Battle Against Extinction
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: With Arcanon destroyed, the Rangers can finally see the end of the road on the horizon. But one Ranger short of all the Energems being bonded, the return of an old foe, and a desperate and dangerous plan underway, they will soon face the fiercest battle any species can face...the battle against extinction.
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, events, places, characters etc. Anything not covered by the above rights is to be presumed purely the creation of the author.

 **Rating:** T – May be some adult themes, including violence and language.

James made his way through the woods surrounding Amber Beach, continuing his search for Sledge's ship. The Rangers had already figured out that he had some kind of cloaking technology that prevented their scans from finding it. After all, it was essentially a flying prison, and something that size should logically show up on at least some kind of scan, and yet even satellite imaging somehow failed to find it. That was why James had taken the decision to dedicate his time to looking for it the old fashioned way. He had spent most of his life searching areas the size of whole countries for fossils and bones the size of a chicken-wing and so while it meant leaving his son behind yet again and dedicating all his time and effort to a rigorous land search.

Hearing voices, at first he wondered if he had just found some enthusiastic campers or hopelessly lost hikers, but as soon as he heard mention of the word Energems, he figured it was unlikely to be a coincidence.

He was also used to trying to stay unseen. He'd often wondered if he hadn't become a palaeontologist if he'd have become a spy or a ninja or something. He had on more than one occasion found himself places he wasn't meant to be, sometimes in areas where he could be arrested or even executed for trespassing, he somehow always found a way to get out of those sticky situations. As he got closer to the voices, he stared moving more quietly. It wasn't long before he confirmed the fact that his caution was warranted. He arrived just in time to see Sledge and Snide destroying Arcanon.

He was fortunate that they seemed to be far more concerned with their own discussions than their surroundings; it made them very easy to follow without any real problems. Pretty soon they came across the crash site, finding the ship. He was surprised exactly how much of it was still intact following the crash, but considering it was also a maximum security prison designed to hold monsters with powerful abilities and unnatural strength, he guessed it must have been built to withstand a fair amount of abuse.

"NO! My beautiful ship! She's still a wreck!" Sledge roared, seeing that his ship was still half-buried in the ground. Hs voice was deep, and he could tell it was usually quite menacing, but James couldn't help the feeling that it sounded almost like he was on the verge of crying! Sledge was hoping that after all those months at least some progress would have been made getting it back into working condition. "How could you not fix her after the crash?"

"How could YOU not tell me you survived?" Poisandra shrieked, slapping Sledge so hard he hit the ground. James wasn't especially interested in Poisandra and Sledge's relationship status, looking at the other monsters hanging around; it looked like none of them were either. They looked more uncomfortable to be there as Poisandra continued to swat at Sledge while he pleaded and begged with her for a chance to explain.

It did, however, offer James an opportunity to log the co-ordinates into his Dino Comm. He was about to contact the others when he heard a little cough. He turned to see a flamboyantly dressed man with a tuft of turquoise hair standing a little way off.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He remarked. James just furrowed his brows.

"I'm sorry...who...?"

"Oh, I'm someone who knows a fair bit about what goes on in that ship." He told him. "Enough to suggest that they MIGHT just be scanning for communications signals in the area so making a call right next to a prison full of some of the worst scum in the universe might NOT be the best idea."

James hated to admit it, but this stranger did seem to have a point. If they were taking the precaution of cloaking their ship from surveillance, it wasn't a huge leap to think they were looking for any signs of communications in the area in case anyone happened upon them. James looked to the stranger.

"Who...who are you?" He asked.

"All you need to know is this isn't a great place for you to be." Heckyl answered. "It isn't a great place for me to be either. Trust me; I have just as much to worry about as you do if they find us."

James looked back over, seeing that Sledge, Poisandra, Snide, Wrench and Curio had gone inside. Even if this stranger was exaggerating the risk being this close to the ship, he figured his opportunity to learn anything else had passed. Being close to the ship was a gamble; going on the ship was likely to be suicidal.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing out here?" A voice rang out. James looked up to see a couple of Spikeballs coming towards them. A perimeter patrol had happened upon them.

"Time to go I think!" Heckyl told him. James was about to attack, but Heckyl fired off a blast, blowing one of them up. He was not optimistic enough to believe that wouldn't have attracted attention. "I'll hold them up here. You get going!"

James didn't have much choice in the matter, seeing more Spikeballs and Viviks coming out of the ship, he didn't fancy their chances in a fight. He took to heel, running as fast as he could. He presumed Heckyl wasn't far behind him, but before long, his mystery saviour was nowhere to be seen. James wanted to go back to help, but if this man had been a prisoner, it was obvious he had some value to Sledge. It was unlikely they would simply execute him. If he got the message out to the Rangers where the ship was, they could always come back and rescue him.

He checked his position and realised he was about a day's journey out from the city on foot. If he went at full pace, using the power of the Energem to enhance him, perhaps he could make it a little faster. Seeing no other choice, he started running, hoping that whatever had happened to his mystery rescuer, it had bought the Rangers the advanced warning they needed.

Things were finally starting to get back to normal at the Amber Beach museum. Between Kendall's direction and what was essentially a guilty conscience blank cheque from Anton, there was plenty of work to go around and things were moving quickly in making it bigger and better than ever before!

"A little to the left." Kendall said, directing Chase, who was on a bed lift putting together a new skeleton. Well, it wasn't exactly new, it had been sitting in storage since Flash had taken over the museum, and they were finally getting the chance to put it together. "A little further...now tilt the nose down a little...that's it! Fix it right there!"

"So you're finally getting that Spinosaurus out of mothballs huh?" Tyler said as he noticed the exhibit. "Um...should I be worried that it's replaced Rexy?"

"No, I just moved the T-Rex further inside, down that way in the left wing." She told him. "The Spinosaurus' back fin was so tall this is the only place he'd fit."

"Huh...OK, I'll take your word for it Dr Morgan." He said, causing her to smile. No matter how many times she heard it, she still loved hearing her new title. Thinking about that, she headed towards her old office; now back to officially being her office! She got there, finding Matt working on the door. There was a lot of wood gathered around him, and some tools and suchlike, but seeing the brand new door and frame, she could tell he had been hard at work, replacing the whole thing.

"Matt?" She asked. "What...what are you doing? I asked Koda to do this."

"Yeah, there was quite a bit of damage to the frame. It turned out to be a much bigger job than we first thought." Matt told her. The reason Kendall needed a new door was because one of the first changes Flash had announced to make himself sound more approachable was an open door, or more accurately, NO door policy! He had told everyone that he wouldn't have a door on his office and ordered Koda, who because of his appearance he presumed to be some kind of labourer, to remove the door. Koda had complied by simply grabbing the door and ripping it straight off its hinges!

Kendall knew Matt did a lot of woodwork on the farm, and so when it became clear that ripping the door out, screws and all had damaged the frame so much that they would need to relocate the hinges since the screw holes were now unusable, Matt had decided to forego the unsightly old hinge locations and go the whole hog, replacing the door frame and all. He had actually hung the door, and even replaced the handle. He stood up, looking to it.

"It's a nice wood, I went with a clear varnish, but I could stain it if you'd like." He told her.

"I'll go with whatever you recommend." She told him. He just smiled and showed her inside, where Sarah was working by her computer, getting things set back up the way Kendall had liked them. Flash had a number of "executive toys" in his office, nerf blasters, miniature pinball games and suchlike. Kendall had a much more minimalistic approach. All she had set up was a simple wooden desk with her computer on it, an in tray an out tray and a geode that she generally used as a paperweight.

"We also had another couple of surprises for you." Matt told her. He handed her a package wrapped in tissue paper. "Shelby had this made up for you. She said something about a deal you guys made?"

Kendall tore off the tissue paper, finding a brass plaque inside. Etched onto it, in black letters was her new title.

"Dr Kendall Morgan, Museum Director." Kendall read out, holding her hand over her mouth as she looked at it. "It's...its perfect!"

"I managed to clear out Flash's 'filing system' and return your computer to some kind of order." Sarah stated, showing Kendall the screen. "God only knows how Flash found anything in that mess of folders he called a system."

"Thanks Sarah." Kendall told her. "I have a feeling I've got a fair bit to do to catch up."

"I've also taken the liberty of ordering you some business cards." Sarah told her. She pulled up a design that she had created for her. It was a pretty simple design, just black print on a white background; it was Kendall's name, her cell number, her e-mail address, and a silhouette of a Plesiosaurus. Kendall smiled and patted Sarah on the shoulder.

"That's brilliant Sarah." Kendall told her. "That's pretty much exactly the kind of thing I was looking for."

"I'm really glad to hear that." Sarah said, looking sheepish. "I may have made a slight mistake when ordering them..."

"What kind of mistake?" Kendall asked her.

"Well...I misread the site, and I didn't realise the unit price was for boxes of 100..." Sarah began to tell her. "So I may have ordered a few more than I intended to."

"How many?" Kendall asked her.

"Um...50,000?" Sarah said apologetically. Kendall just laughed a little.

"Well...at least I know I'll have plenty of spares." Kendall answered. "Thanks Sarah."

"There's just one more thing." Matt said, handing Kendall one more gift. "I had a little leftover wood. I haven't had a chance to wrap it yet and I was going to run out and get some glass..."

"It's...its absolutely perfect." Kendall whispered in a barely audible voice. Matt had made her a frame for her PhD certificate.

"I just thought you might like to hang it on the wall." He told her. "I mean...if you want to of course. I know you're not really into clutter in your office..."

"It's perfect Matt." She answered, wrapping her arms around him. As she held him there, Sarah took the opportunity to quietly leave the room. As they parted, Kendall stood, looking to Matt for a length of time, way longer than was comfortable for either of them. Eventually, she cleared her throat.

"So...any thoughts on where you'd like to hang it?" He asked her. Kendall looked around the room.

"Maybe this wall here, opposite the desk." She answered. Matt picked up a power drill and a stud finder.

"I'll have this done in a couple of minutes." He told her.

Meanwhile, in the Dino Bite Cafe, Ivan and Zack arrived, having gone for a run together. Ivan was more than a little impressed as he got to the restaurant. He had intentionally not used his Energem power to give Zack a chance of keeping up, but even in his day, Ivan was used to marching or riding for miles at a time with full armour and weapons. He looked to Zack, who was just catching his breath a little.

"You set an impressive pace cousin." Ivan complimented him.

"What can I say? I've gotten pretty used to running lately." Zack told him with a chuckle. Ivan just smiled a little. He had a feeling Zack wasn't exaggerating on that account. He was sure that there were quite a few who weren't especially happy with him when they found their property covered in his artwork. Ivan just patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm just going to use the facilities." Ivan told him. "You find us a booth, I'll be right back."

Zack went to a booth in the corner, taking the weight off his feet. He picked up the menu, and began looking over it, trying to decide what to have. All of a sudden, someone grabbed him from behind, placing hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" He heard a female voice say.

"Um...I have no idea." Zack replied. The hands were removed from his eyes and a girl came around in front of him, sitting on the table.

"Oh, you are just a horrible tease!" She said as she moved a little closer.

"Tease? What are you...?" His words were silenced as the girl grabbed him, pulling him in and kissing him deeply. Zack's eyes just opened wide in alarm, and he held his hands out wide, not knowing where to put them. As she parted from him, he just stared at her.

"So, go on then, what's this surprise you wanted to show me?" She asked him.

"I'M meant to surprise YOU?" He asked her. Just then, Ivan arrived. Erin got up from the table and had to do a double-take, looking utterly shocked and confused.

"Wait...what...who...?" She started to say. Ivan just smiled.

"Oh, I was hoping to be the one to present this surprise." Ivan told her. "Erin, meet Zack. I recently found out there was a branch of the family I didn't know about. Young Zack here is my cousin."

"Your...your cousin?" Erin gulped. Zack just nodded wordlessly. "Oh...oh...OH! Um...hi, I'm Erin!"

"Zack." He replied, shaking her hand.

"I have to admit it was a surprise, but a welcome one." Ivan stated. "So, what do you think? Was it a surprise?"

"Oh...it was a surprise alright!" Zack said, looking a little. Ivan looked between the two of them looking confused.

"Did I miss something?" He asked them. Erin just looked a little guilty, before taking a deep breath.

"Um...you two look REALLY alike, especially when you're both all...post-workout." She told him. "I didn't know what your surprise was, so I saw Zack and...um...I greeted him how we normally greet each other."

Ivan stood for a moment silently, looking between the two of them. After a moment though, the tension broke, and both Zack and Erin were relieved as Ivan started to laugh. Before long all three of them were laughing about the whole misunderstanding.

"Well...I guess I DID promise you a surprise." Ivan chuckled. "What can I get you both?"

"Tuna melt." Erin and Zack said together. They both looked at each other and started laughing again.

"Lime smoothie!" Zack continued.

"Make mine a strawberry." Erin told him.

"Your wish is my command." Ivan said as he went to the counter. "You two get to know each other. Just...not too much."

As he left, Erin looked to Zack.

"So...what kind of things are you into?" She asked him. Ivan went to the counter where Shelby was serving.

"I'll have three tuna melts, two strawberry smoothies and one lime if it pleases you." He said to her. Shelby just wrote down her order.

"So, you're introducing Erin to your family?" Shelby asked him. Ivan just smiled and nodded.

"I have a way to go with Zack, and I thought, perhaps introducing him to the people that are important to me would be a good step."

"So you introduced him to Erin?" Shelby asked him. Ivan just nodded.

"Shelby, I finally understand what you were worried about, why you objected to the way I spoke of...well...you know." Ivan told her honestly. "This has made me think a great deal about a lot of my life choices, about the things I have said and done. I can admit my failings as a man, but I can't do much about the mistakes I made. All I can do is try to be a better man in the future. It has also made me think very carefully about the people in my life."

He looked over to where Erin was talking with Zack, getting to know him. Both of them started laughing as she finished one of her stories.

"You once asked me a question about Erin, one that you asked me not to answer." Ivan reminded her. Shelby held up a hand.

"Ivan, you really don't..."

"No, I feel I must." Ivan told her, watching Erin. "Erin is very dear to me. She has become a very important part of my life."

"That's really good to hear." Shelby told him, serving up his smoothies. "I appreciate you telling me that."

As she went to prepare his sandwiches, Ivan took the smoothies over to the table and set them down. Zack pointed to Erin, laughing.

"Dude, your girlfriend it totally awesome!" He answered. Ivan sat down with her and put his arm around her.

"Yes, she surely is." He answered. "Now, what pray tell were you talking about while I was ordering?"


	2. Time To Rebuild

On Sledge's ship, the monsters were once again in their cells, cowering away. It wasn't because Sledge was back, now that he had destroyed Arcanon and taken the Dark Energem, he really didn't care what happened to the prisoners. They had all been away from their home planets for millions of years. Any bounty on them would have long since expired. Those that were looking for them would have either died or long since forgotten why they even wanted them in the first place and so the inhabitants of his ship no longer held any value for him other than helping him get the remaining Energems. If they chose to leave the ship, to take their chances on the outside world, it really was no concern to him and just less mouths to feed in the long run. No, those that remained still had free run of the ship, but chose to remain in their cells just to keep out of the way of the drama unfolding.

The yelling had gone on for hours, and it was interspersed with power blasts and various flying objects. Poisandra was obviously delighted that Sledge had returned to her, that he was still alive. She had searched for him since Heckyl had told her that he had escaped the crash, and when she finally did reunite with him, she had gone with him to destroy Arcanon without a second thought. Of course now that the dust had settled and they were back at home, that did leave the uncomfortable question, why DID he let her think he had been destroyed and why had he stayed away for so long?

Wrench was the Engine Room, making use of the communications system while this was going on. Sledge had ordered that he wanted his ship back in the air and back in orbit as soon as possible. He was even willing to use the Dark Energem to power the engines back up to full charge in order to achieve this. Wrench had the communicator attached to the side of his head with magnets while he was working.

"I've been on hold for two hours!" He yelled down the line. "I wanted to talk about job opportunities...wait...what do you mean this is the wrong department? Don't put me back on hold!"

He let out a groan of frustration as the music started up again. Poisandra came storming into the engine room with Curio right behind her. She huffed and stomped her foot, folding her arms defiantly with her back to the door. Sledge came crawling in on his knees with a bouquet of flowers.

"Poisandra, these are for you!" He told her, holding them out. "Please take me back my pink sugarplum!"

Wrench was putting on his best puppy-face, and impressive feat considering the majority of his face was covered by his helmet. It was what normally melted Poisandra's heart and got her to listen to him. Wrench just considered how grateful he was he didn't have a stomach, or the ability to throw up any longer.

"Not good enough!" She said turning her nose up and continuing to look away. "I cried myself to sleep every night for months thinking about you! Now I found out you spent all that time gallivanting all over this world having fun without me!"

"Oh, that's not true my precious belladonna." He said, making kissy sounds that made Wrench start to wonder if he was premature in thinking he could no longer vomit. "I was miserable the whole time! I wanted nothing more than to come back to you and get those Rangers for what they did to us...but I knew that if my plan worked, we could make them pay! Please, I beg you on my knees to forgive me!"

"If you liked it you should have put a ring on it!" Poisandra screamed, ripping the flowers from his hand and throwing them on the floor.

"Yeah, you tell him Poisandra!" Curio said, starting to stomp and jump on the flowers in support of his mistress, turning them into mulch on the floor.

"I've been waiting for millions of years, and then you spend months on vacation without me all the while letting me think you were dead?" She whined, beginning to slap him around the head again. "Flowers won't do it this time; I...WANT...A...WEDDING!"

"Of course, of course, anything you say!" Sledge told her. "We'll get married, just as soon as Sledge gets this ship off the ground! My precious pink Poisie-poo!"

"YAY!" She squealed in delight, beginning to jump around with joy with her pet, dancing in a madcap manner. "I'm FINALLY getting married! Come on Curio! We've got so much planning to do!"

"Love you Poisie!" Sledge said as she skipped away, watching her go. He hadn't exactly been MISERABLE on his journey around the world, he had managed to keep himself entertained, but it always was his driving thought to return to his ship and prepare for the destruction of the Rangers. He turned to Wrench, who was still on the communicator.

"So, who is it I'm speaking to?" He asked, before noticing Sledge was glowering at him. "Uh...I'll be right back." He put the line on hold.

"How long before you get this thing up and running?" Sledge snapped at him.

"The engines have been salvaged for parts to keep vital systems running so many times...I needed to make whole new parts!" Wrench told him. "I should be ready to put the Dark Energem in to charge it in a couple of hours!"

"Well don't rest until you do!" Sledge warned him, putting the Dark Energem down next to him. "My plan is about to hatch, and I don't want to be anywhere NEAR this planet when it does!"

As he left, Wrench just sighed and took the line off hold.

"Sorry about that, my boss was listening." He said, going back to work on the engine. "So yes, I've been a chief engineer for over 65 million years...what? What do you mean you have a head mechanic? I thought this was an opening for...but Ripcon, sir, I'm WAY too qualified to be an apprentice! What if I sweeten the pot and offer you some new contestants for your show? I know a lot of creatures who'll be looking for paid employment soon!"

He just sighed as he heard the response.

"Alright, what's the package like for an apprentice?" He said in an exasperated tone as he went back to work.

Over in the museum, Sarah was with Shelby was following Shelby around with a book in her hand, trying to catch her attention. Shelby looked more than a little frustrated as she tried to go around her route, revising her knowledge of where the exhibits had been relocated to in order to amend her tour notes.

"Look, all I'm saying is it's worth a try!" Sarah told her.

"Sarah, you can't just MAKE a zord!" Shelby told her. "The Zords we have were animated from the dinosaurs that were bonded to their Energems!"

"But in this book it says..."

"Not everything in books is always right Sarah!" Shelby interrupted her. "I know you found it in Zenowing's personal effects, but even he said it was just a theory!"

"All I'm saying is maybe it's worth a try!" Sarah said, pleading with her. "I mean...how cool would it be to get behind the controls of a Zord you made?"

"Ah, Sarah, glad to see you." Ivan declared as he saw them walking around the museum. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Nothing important." Shelby assured him. Ivan just gestured over to the cafe.

"I have someone who wants to meet you, someone who owes you an apology." He told her.

"You mean...your grandson?" Sarah asked him. It had been a surprise when she confronted Zack, only to find herself staring at Ivan's face. That momentary lapse was all it took for him to shove her off the fence. "He's here?"

"He is, and he truly is extremely apologetic about what happened." Ivan told her. "Come, he insisted I find you so that he could apologise in person."

With that, Ivan took Sarah away to the cafe to meet with Zack. Kendall came over smiling.

"I'm just heading out; I've got something personal to do." She told Shelby, before glancing after Sarah. "So, you've had a little bit of a shadow?"

"Yeah, Sarah's great and all but it is SO wearing!" Shelby grumbled. "I mean, I love enthusiasm but it's so exhausting! Also, the way she keeps on and on at me about trying out ideas like she thinks she knows better than me? How long does she think I've been doing this? It's great she wants to help, but she could really do with calming down a little and learning to appreciate that sometimes people just know more than her."

"Yes...that is annoying isn't it?" Kendall replied with a wicked grin and a little wink as she started to walk away. Shelby's eyes grew wide.

"Wait...are you saying...?" Shelby asked her, looking indignant. "Are you saying I was like that?"

"Why do you think I hired her?" Kendall called back. "She reminded me of you!"

As she left the museum, heading out on personal errands, and wordlessly leaving Shelby in charge, the Pink Ranger furrowed her brows.

"Sure I was keen, but...I was never THAT bad...was I?" She asked, before shaking her head and going back to her work.

Over in Summer Cove, a town a couple of hours' drive from Amber Beach, Koda was in the ring at one of Carl's shows. While the timing wasn't ideal, until Sledge and his and made their move, the Rangers really were at a loss as to how to proceed, and so there really was no reason to force Koda to postpone what was the push of his career so far.

On their last show, Koda had made his return and fired the opening shot of his feud with Jack, attacking him in revenge for his attack when they failed to win the tag team championships. It was a feud that had only just begun, but one that the fans were already eager to see come to a head! Most were delighted to see Koda back, and even more delighted to see that he had every intention of making Jack pay for what he had done.

The show was opening with a battle royal, a very simple match type that was often used to allow a number of performers to get a little time and exposure at once. The idea was simple, a number of performers, in this case twenty, began in the ring and they fought to throw each other out. A wrestler was eliminated if they were thrown over the top rope and both feet touched the floor on the outside of the ring.

It was common for such matches to be used to allow young or inexperienced workers a little time in front of a crowd in a way that wasn't too demanding of them. They were in among so many other performers that if anyone had a momentary lapse or be unable to perform difficult routines then it didn't matter as much since there were so many other people and so much else going on that no one was focusing on any one performer in particular. It was also commonly used to kill some time, and a lot of shows would put on such a match when it became clear that matches had ended short or not enough people were able to attend to make a full card since many of the wrestlers could perform double duty and work the battle royal and another match. Since most didn't get paid any extra for this additional appearance, they were only too happy to let themselves get eliminated quickly, meaning they didn't risk any additional injury and also helping younger performers get a little time in front of an audience.

The other reason for such a match was a quick and simple way of establishing another event. While there was always the PERCEPTION of a championship ranking, and performers were often referred to as the "number one contender" before getting a title match, no promotion ever made public the actual rankings because, frankly, they didn't exist! Since the show was a work, matches were often made more because they fitted a storyline than any consideration of who had won and lost how many matches lately. A battle royal was often used as a plot tool, with a shot at a title on the line. It meant that it made more sense why rookies who maybe only had one or two appearances would be in the same ring as guys that had been working for the promotion for years. After all, who couldn't identify with working for an employer who suddenly offered an opportunity to go from an entry-level position to an executive in a single day?

Koda was forced over to the ropes by one of his opponents and chopped hard in the chest to stun him, before the guy grabbed Koda's leg and started to lift, trying to rotate him over the ropes. The crowd was on their feet chanting for Koda as the other three men in the ring joined the efforts to eliminate the young up-and-comer and hopefully secure the title shot for themselves.

Koda looked to the men, and got the confirmation they were ready. One of the things they had always sold Koda on was his freakish strength, and they knew he had the raw power to carry off a lot of impressive spots. Koda sunk down, and got underneath, at which all four men balanced their weight and prepared to jump. With a massive yell, Koda stood up, and all four men went flipping over the rope at the same time, tumbling to the floor! Koda fell to his knees, spent from the exertion, but held his hand up in triumph as the bell rung.

"Your winner, and Number One Contender, KODA!" The Ring Announcer called out. The fans all cheered. They knew it was inevitable that Koda and Jack were on a collision course for a proper match, but now that he was the number one contender, that meant Koda was in line for a championship match! For the story, that not only meant Jack couldn't duck Koda, refusing a match, but that when they did face, Koda could potentially take the championship from him and gain the ultimate revenge! Koda's music was cut, and he was interrupted as Jack came onto the stage, applauding sarcastically.

"Congratulations kid, you beat up a bunch of nobodies and booked yourself into a hell from which you can't come back!" Jack taunted him as he held the belt over his shoulder. "You think I've not seen this shit a million times? I've watched people like you come and I've sent most of them packing! You think because you've got this match you're on top of the world, but all you've done is guarantee you have a one-way ticket to disappointment!"

"Jack, you talk too much!" Koda answered, taking a mic. "You attack me, try to end me, but I come back!"

He gestured to the crowd.

"They all know, this not about title. I face you even if no title!" Koda told him. "But now there is title, now I up for title...you go on fastest diet plan in world! Lose ten pounds in five minutes!"

The crowd exploded at this threat. It was a reference to the fact that the title was often referred to as "ten pounds of gold." Jack just laughed.

"Kid, if you think this title is going anywhere, maybe I hit your head a little too hard with that piledriver!" Jack told him. "I don't even need to beat you! You forget a little thing called champion's privilege! If I get DQ'd, this belt stays right where it is. If I get counted out, this belt never leaves my waist."

Koda started pacing as the crowd responded negatively to that assertion. Like other combat sports like boxing, the champion's privilege meant that the champion didn't lose his title unless he was defeated. In the event of a draw, they would keep the title; the challenger had to win the match. In the case of wrestling this meant that a contender could only win by pinfall, submission or referee's stoppage. In the event of a disqualification or count out, the champion kept the belt, something more than a few heel wrestlers had used to annoy the fans and cheat their opponents out of victory to sell storylines.

"But I'm not like that! I want to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that you're not even in my league!" Jack declared. "That's why when we go to Amber Beach; there won't be any count outs or disqualifications. If you've got the balls, you and I are going to settle this once and for all in a good old fashioned street fight!"

"You're ON!" Koda screamed into the mic, tossing it down as the crowd exploded. The match was set, and there was no backing down now. The former friends would face each other in one of the most brutal matches possible, and they would do so over the highest honour in the company!


	3. New Day New Information

Kendall was at the Embassy, taking some time to meet with her friend and check up on her. Since Margaret had been diagnosed with cancer, Kendall had made some time to swing by a few times a week when she could. While they had other things in common, it was one of the things that really connected them, with Kendall having defeated the illness as a teenager.

Margaret seemed a lot brighter and infinitely more cheerful now than she had in a while. Things were going really well with her treatment. She was responding well to the chemotherapy, she was doing well in her physiotherapy, learning how to get used to walking around on her prosthetic leg, and with the wedding approaching, she had a lot to occupy her mind. Kendall liked seeing her looking happier, while she knew through personal experience that the chemotherapy was still taking a toll, she was able to cope a lot better with it.

"So, the oncologist is really happy with my progress. He's talking about running a few tests." Margaret told her. "If all goes well, I might soon be able to stop the chemo."

Kendall just nodded with a smile hearing this, taking a sip from a tea cup that she had been served. Margaret had a bunch of brochures out that she was showing her, trying to make decisions about the wedding. There weren't MANY decisions that were down to her. Since she was marrying Phillipe, who was the heir to the nation of Zandar, their wedding would be a State affair, meaning that there were a lot of things that were pretty much dictated to them. The venue for one, the ceremony for every Royal Wedding in Zandar had been in the same church since before Ivan's day. The guest list was into the four figures, mainly Heads of State and suchlike that had to be invited more out of protocol than any real desire Margaret and Phillipe had to see them there since most of them they had never met and wouldn't be able to pick out of a line-up, but she was determined to make the most of the decisions she COULD make!

"I've narrowed my cake choices down to these three bakeries." Margaret told her, showing Kendall a couple of brochures. "Phillipe's spent so much time out here he was determined to have a baker from here do the cake, even if it did mean flying him out to Zandar. I kind of like this one, but this guy was on the news for doing a cake pro bono for that couple that were refused in their home state..."

"Yeah, that sounds really good." Kendall answered, nodding. Margaret looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah, I was also seriously considering wearing a burlap sack at the altar, but there are some really nice trash can liners out there too, what do you think?"

"Maybe." Kendall stated, making it clear she wasn't listening at all. Margaret just put down her cup and took Kendall's hands, grabbing her attention.

"Alright Dr Morgan, spill it." Margaret told her. Kendall just stared at her. "You haven't been listening to a word I've said for at least the last fifteen minutes."

"I'm sorry, I just...I have a lot on my mind." Kendall told her. Margaret just smiled.

"You just got your job back, you got a blank check and carte blanche to do what the hell you like to that museum and you got that shiny new set of letters after your name, I'd have thought things were looking great in Camp Kendall!" Margaret teased her. Kendall just bit her lip. "You really weren't here to talk cake recipes were you?"

"It's...its Matt." Kendall stated. Margaret rested her chin on her hand, listening to Kendall intently. She'd had a word with Matt, asking him to back off a little and give her space. He had made clear that he still wanted to be with her, but Kendall wasn't so sure, having a lot to get through in her own mind.

"What's he done?" She asked him.

"Nothing, he's...he's been great lately." Kendall told her, thinking about him. "He's helping with my shortlist for the new Silver Ranger; he's been helping with a lot of the cleanup and renovations at the museum..."

"So, what's the issue?" Margaret asked her.

"I guess...I guess there isn't one." Kendall answered, before putting her cup down, and putting her face in her hands. "God, why couldn't he just been an asshole? At least my other ex left me with no lingering doubts about ending things."

"You mean your last ex who tried to kill you all multiple times?" Margaret chuckled. "Its nice to know where the bar is for you."

"You...you remember what we talked about last time right?" Kendall asked her. Margaret just nodded. "Well, that issue's still not something I'm sure about, but him being around, the way he's been about helping out around the place...it's kind of making me think more about..."

"How much you want him?" Margaret asked her. Kendall just nodded.

"I see a lot of the stuff he's doing and I see how he is around me and I all I see is why I fell for him in the first place." Kendall told her. "God, what the hell is wrong with me?"

"Kendall, what you're feeling its pretty understandable." Margaret told her, taking her hands in her own.

"I know, but its...all this others stuff, its still such a mess." Kendall told her. "I mean, this isn't something that's just going to go away."

"Last time we talked, you told me you weren't sure what you wanted." Margaret reminded her.

"I don't know, I see Matt and I think about our time together and about family, and at times...it doesn't seem like such a bad thing, it doesn't seem to be something I can't imagine." Kendall told her. "Then I think about all the bad stuff, how I'd either be stuck at home unable to pursue my career or I'd be constantly away from the kids..."

"At least you're considering it." Margaret conceded.

"Then I remember that...kids hate me...and I'm not too fond of them either!" Kendall pressed on. "I mean, they're messy, they're always cluttering up the place with all their stuff, I wouldn't be able to get any space to myself, I get claustrophobic just thinking about it!"

"Mhmm...yeah...you just set up that early man exhibit this week didn't you?" She asked.

"We're re-creating the cave in the museum." Kendall said with a smile. "We'll OFFICIALLY have the most accurate representation of a tribal dwelling in the country..."

"Yeah, where was all that stuff until this week?" Margaret asked her.

"In my bedroom at home." Kendall told her. Margaret just nodded, causing Kendall to roll her eyes. "Its...its not just that! Kids are always making a mess, everything is sticky and gross, and you can never find anything..."

Kendall's cell phone rang. She answered it.

"What is it Shelby?" She asked.

"Dr Morgan, Chase did it again!" She complained. "He's taken the socket wrench set to adjust his skateboard. I can't find it anywhere!"

"It's probably in the corner by the Mammoth ribcage." She told her. "He likes to use the flat rock there as a workbench since I banned him from using my workbench."

"Hang on...alright, I've got it." Shelby answered. "Thanks Dr Morgan."

"Glad to help." Kendall stated, looking back to Margaret. "I just think about kids and all I can think about is the fact I was limping for a week after that girl kicked me at the Fossil Fun Day! I got screamed at so much I was sure I was going to go deaf, and my jacket...I had to get it dry-cleaned! I felt like a walking Kleenex!"

Her phone rang again, this time it was Koda.

"Kendall, I win match, Jack and I having championship match in Amber Beach!" He rushed out excitedly. "We have match right down road from museum!"

"That's great Koda!" Kendall said, grinning brightly. "What did Alessandra say about it?"

"She so excited! She already trying to see if theatre acces...axect...aquetib..."

"Accessible?" Kendall offered. Alessandra was still recovering from her knee surgery and so it would be a while before it would be recommended for her to move around too much. She'd be restricted in going of there wasn't facilities to assist her while she was on crutches.

"Yes, accessible!" Koda answered. "I no want her risk be hurt, but I really want her be there!"

"I'm sure she really wants to be there too!" Kendall told him. "I'll swing by the museum with some ice cream later to celebrate."

"OOH! You bring...?"

"Berry blitz with chocolate syrup, I know." Kendall told him. "I'll be there later."

She hung up, looking back to Margaret.

"What was I talking about?" She asked.

"You were talking about how much hassle kids are." Margaret reminded her. Kendall nodded.

"Yeah, I mean all the pointless arguments and screaming and drama...how could anyone...BLOODY HELL!" She said, answering her phone again. "What is it?"

"Dr Morgan, Shelby took my skateboard!" Chase complained. "She just said something about some stupid socket wrench and then snatched it from me!"

"Put me on speaker!" Kendall sighed. "Shelby, did you take Chase's skateboard?"

"He took the socket wrench!" Shelby shrieked. "He's always messing everything up, I can never..."

"Did you get the socket wrench back?" Kendall asked.

"Well...yes, but...that's not the point! He was..."

"Shelby, give him back his skateboard!" Kendall told her. "Chase, you go to the skate park, Shelby, you keep working in the lab. I don't want to hear another word about this!"

"Alright." They both grumbled, before hanging up. Kendall just looked back to Margaret.

"I swear, you'd need the patience of a saint to deal with all that shit!" Kendall told her. "Its probably a blessing in disguise. There is NO way I could put up with all that!"

"Oh no, you have NO parental instincts whatsoever!" Margaret replied sarcastically. Kendall seemed to miss the sarcasm in her voice though. Margaret just sighed. "Alright, can we talk about cake designs now?"

"Sure." Kendall answered, shaking her head clear. "What kind of thing did you have in mind?"

Margaret handed Kendall a brochure, at which Kendall started to look at them, drumming her fingers as she considered some of the patterns.

In another part of the city, a car rolled into the parking lot of the Amber Beach museum. Coming to a stop in the empty parking lot, Carl put on the handbrake, before looking to the museum.

"You sure you want dropped off here big guy?" Carl asked him. "This place looks closed."

The museum was indeed closed for the evening, and the others had long since gone home. Koda hadn't thought about it when Carl offered him a lift back home, and had just asked to come here.

"Yes, this fine." Koda told him.

"I'd have thought you'd have wanted to spend some time with Alessandra after tonight." Jack answered from the back seat, where he was lying down across the full length of the seat. He took a swig from a bottle of whisky as he looked to Koda.

"I text her. She going to bed, rest up to help knee." Koda told Jack with a smile. "She probably asleep by now. Go see her tomorrow."

"Koda...why do you want to be dropped off here?" Carl asked him. "I can always take you home. I don't mind."

Koda thought about Carl's question. Strictly speaking he WAS home. He still lived in the caves under the museum. Of course since Carl and Jack didn't know that, since he couldn't actually explain to them the truth about him, he was having to think about what he would tell them. He pondered for a moment, wishing he was more like Chase. He always seemed to have a line in his back pocket.

"I...live nearby." Koda told them. "No parking there."

"Where?" Carl asked him, looking around. He couldn't see much in the local area, certainly not any apartment blocks or anything.

"For God's sake, will you quit giving him the third degree?" Jack grumbled. "It's late, if he wants to get out here, let him get out here!"

Koda got out of the car, turning to look back in the window.

"Koda, the crowd were eating that up. I've seen guys with years on you that couldn't get a crowd behind a feud like that." Carl told him. "Now, you go rest up. Spend some time with that girl of yours, then get your ass down to the gym."

"I work very hard." Koda assured him. "I no let you down."

"I know you won't kid." Jack called from the back seat. Koda turned and headed towards the museum, heading around the back of it. Carl just sat for a minute, watching him go.

"So where to Jack, your place or the bar?" Carl asked him. Jack held up the bottle and shook it.

"I'm good." He told his long-time friend. "But if you can swing by a drug store I could use some painkillers."

"Everything alright?" He asked him.

"Bloody migraines, I can't seem to shift them." Jack answered. Carl reached into his bag, pulling out a pill bottle and reaching to hand them back to him. Jack reached out for them, but only just got his fingertips to the bottle, dropping them to the floor. "Bugger!"

"Jack..."

"Its fine, I'll get them." He answered, fumbling around the floor with his hand, before he got the bottle and picked it up, taking a couple of pills and popping them in his mouth, crunching them and washing them down with more whisky.

"You alright?" Carl asked him.

"It's just migraines, I've had them before." Jack told him. "And all this nagging isn't helping them either! God, if I wanted to listen to this I'd have gotten married!"

"Alright, your place it is." Carl answered. "Any chance of you actually sitting up? There are seatbelt laws for a reason!"

"I'm good." Jack responded. Carl just turned on the engine and pulled away.

The following morning, Kendall got to the museum, unlocking the doors and turning off the alarm. She had to juggle a little with some folders she was carrying, and a tray with a couple of coffees on it. She didn't have enough hands to carry it all, and had to kind of support the folders between her knee and the wall, while cradling the tray of coffee and fumbling to put her keys back into her pocket.

She wasn't exactly looking forward to the day ahead. This was going to be the first chance she'd get to take a look at the books and see exactly how much of a mess Flash had left behind. Anton had always said he didn't care if his museums made a profit, but she felt a duty to him to make a go of it. She was more concerned with all the complaint letters and suchlike and trying to find ways of restoring the museum's reputation. She knew how difficult it was to earn a reputation, and how easily and quickly it could be destroyed. Since the folder carrying the complaint letters was almost as thick as an encyclopaedia, it looked like Flash had all but taken a nuke to it!

As she headed towards her office, she was thinking of the first step, which to her was getting the team back. Every one of them! Harold had been unfairly fired from the gift shop, all because Flash didn't want to pay him benefits. Many of the other staff had resigned for various reasons. While she knew it was unlikely all of them were going to come back, she wanted as much as possible to get back the team that she knew and trusted, and those that wouldn't come back, at very least she wanted to see the museum do right by them and make up to them their treatment under the lunatic asylum that Flash had turned it into.

She got to the door, seeing that it had been finished in her absence and smiled. Matt had outdone himself finishing the door in one day, and the piece de resistance? The brass name plaque Shelby had bought for her screwed in pride of place, perfect eye-level for her. Although Matt was significantly taller than her, hell, EVERYONE was significantly taller than her, but for Matt...he had to be crouched or hunched over for ages fixing the name plate at exactly the right height to ensure it would be the first thing she would see when she got to her office every day.

She went into her office, finally getting to put her paperwork down on the desk, and turned to see that he had also taken the time to finish the frame for her PhD certificate and hang it on the wall.

She sat on her desk to admire it for a moment, taking a coffee and sipping it casually as she looked at it. He had gotten the glass for the frame as he said. He had finished the frame and put the certificate into it, before once again taking the time to place it exactly at eye level for her. His attention to detail when it came to his work like that which she loved. He had done all this for her, to ensure that now whenever she was in her office, it would be right there across from her when she was sitting at her desk, reminding her of her accomplishments. She smiled as she took another long sip, thinking about him, imagining him hunched over for ages, marking out the wall, ensuring it was level...his back had to be killing him, but he had done all that for her.

"Kendall!" Someone yelled, interrupting her thoughts. She was startled, and let out a huge scream as she jumped, her coffee ending up all over her. She looked to the door with the mother-of-all-death-glares, thoughts of murder crossing her mind before she realised who was standing there. "Um...bad time?"

"James!" She responded, getting a Kleenex off her desk and beginning to wipe down her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Call the others, right now!" He told her. "I've found what we're looking for!"

"You mean...?"

"Call the others right now!" James told her. "If we move fast, we can end this all today!"


	4. Stonewall

On Sledge's ship, preparations for the wedding were well underway. Poisandra had spent all day and all night and drafted in the help of anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path to decorate every square inch of the ship. Sledge had promised her the wedding multiple times before, but it had always been with some open-ended or wooly deadline like "Once I have the Energems" or "Once I've defeated the Rangers." However, this time the deadline was "as soon as the ship is back in the air." With Wrench working full-time on it, they were sure that the ship would be up in the air in a matter of hours.

Wrench was in the engine rooms, carefully calibrating the engines to accept the Dark Energem. The ship's solar panels could only re-charge the power cells so quickly, and with the amount of power they had been using just to keep the ship cloaked from the Rangers' sensors, they needed a stronger energy source to bring the engines back up to a full charge.

It was a delicate operation, one that required a lot of caution. It was like putting a device that was designed to run on a AAA battery and hooking it straight up to a nuclear reactor! The device would be powered, and powered quickly, but the danger was that the power output would be far too great and it would overload everything, potentially killing everyone in the process. Wrench had all but made the final adjustments when the door flew open and in staggered Wrench, being propped up by Fury, with Snide only a little way behind.

"I'm getting married in the mooooorrrrnniiiinnnnnggggg!" He sang drunkenly, his brew slopping around from the tankard he was waving around carelessly. Fury appeared to be in much the same state, with a tankard in his hand also. Snide was the only one that seemed to be vaguely in control of his faculties, watching this scene unfolding.

"Careful, this is highly delicate work!" Wrench complained.

"Oh, what turned you into such a sourpuss?" Sledge asked him. "Are you all jealous because I'm marrying my beautiful Poisie poo?"

"I think Wrench is as far from being married as possible." Fury giggled. "In fact...so much of you is mechanical now...do you even still...you know...?"

They both let out a drunken laugh as Wrench mopped up spilled alcohol, trying to keep his precious engines from being wrecked by Sledge's out-of-hand bachelor party.

"Can't you see I'm busy?" Wrench asked him. "You have to be careful! If my adjustments are off by even a little big..."

"Oh Careful Schmareful!" Sledge said, picking up the Dark Energem and ramming it into a housing in the engines, despite Wrench trying to protest with him. The cyborg held his hands up in a futile effort. If the engines went up, there was a good chance most of the woods and half of Amber Beach would become a new Grand Canyon, so his hands weren't likely to help one bit in preventing his destruction! Fortunately, as he finally allowed himself to look, he could see that the systems were working fine. "Is it charging?"

"It...it is!" Wrench told him. "At this rate, we should be able to take off in a couple of hours!"

"Well, let me know when it is! I promised Poisandra that's when we'd have the wedding!" He reminded Wrench. "Until then, who's for shots?"

With that, they staggered out of the room. They were barely out the door when Wrench got a call on his communicator.

"Hello, is this Wrench?" A voice asked.

"Who wants to know?" He asked.

"My name is Cosmo Royale! You might have heard of me. I am the Host, Star, Producer and Head of Talent Relations for the hit intergalactic show Galaxy Warriors! I was handed a CV by my colleague Ripcon. I have to say, it sounds very impressive. Are you still interested in the intern position?"

"WHAT?" Wrench shrieked. "Ripcon told me it was an APPRENTICE position! Now I won't even get paid?"

"My boy, none of us start at the top. Do you think I got to run the highest rated television show in the universe straight off the unemployment line?" He asked.

"Well...yes actually, doesn't your family run the network?" Wrench asked him.

"I can assure you; I fetched coffee and photocopied contracts like everyone else!" Cosmo Royale said in a bad tempered way. "But if you're not interested..."

"NO!" Wrench called out, before looking around. He just slumped, looking defeated. "When can I start?"

"Do what you have to do with your current employer and show up at the co-ordinates I'm sending you." Cosmo Royale told him. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you!"

As he hung up, Wrench just looked to the engines.

"I'm done alright." He grumbled. "Done with warlords and stupid Power Rangers!"

Meanwhile, in the Dino Lab, the whole team had assembled. It hadn't taken long to get everyone to clear their schedule and come once the announcement went out that James had returned with news of the ship's co-ordinates. The Rangers had always been on the defensive with the evil forces. At first, it was because they didn't have much in the way of an arsenal that could go into space. Only the Plesiozord could do that. Since the crash, it was because they didn't know where the ship had crashed. They were nervous about the thought of a full-on offensive, but they all conceded that if the war was to end, they needed eventually to take the fight to Snide. Their most significant victory to date had been when they brought the ship down, going on the aggressive.

Kendall had shut down the museum with a cover story of some essential renovations. None of the staff objected since she had called them all to assure them that they would be getting paid their full salary for as long as the museum was closed, meaning that they were effectively being paid to stay at home. Those that knew, Sarah, Alessandra, Matt, Margaret, Betty and Leanne had also come to the lab to help out how they could; even if it was only by ensuring the Rangers knew where they were and that they were safe.

They all sat around, listening to James as he relayed his story. He had been out there for a long time, searching every square inch on foot in the hopes of finding the ship. He looked to the others.

"I couldn't believe my luck when after your battle; I saw that monster fly into the woods. He landed only a few hundred feet from my camp." James told them, looking around the room. "He wasn't alone for long though. I kept my distance, thinking they were there to help out their boss, but before long it became pretty clear that things weren't exactly cordial between them. They destroyed him in front of my eyes."

"I...I can't believe he even survived the Ultrazord attack." Tyler commented. "It has to have been the Dark Energem, it must have saved him."

"The Dark Energem, that's what the big one called it. They took something from Arcanon. Well, he had dropped it when he landed, but they prevented him getting it back. The big one took it for himself."

"Big one?" Chase asked him. "Snide?"

"No, it wasn't Snide, but he was there. He said he sold Arcanon out to the other one. It looks like Arcanon wasn't a very popular guy." James told them. "The new one, he was a real scary looking guy. I think they said his name was Sledge."

"SLEDGE?" The Rangers all chorused together. With the exception of James, all of them had faced Sledge the first time around. They all had a lot of bad memories of him.

"He survived?" Phillipe asked. "But...how could he possibly have? We all saw him destroyed!"

"Uh...that...might be on me." Tyler admitted. "I had to bail out of the ship before it came down. When he didn't show up again, we all assumed he had been destroyed."

"Now he's back." Chase commented. "And by the sounds of it, working with Snide."

"Not to mention he's got the Dark Energem." Shelby reminded them. Her expression was telling. Since there had been no energy signatures from the Dark Energem, all of them had hoped that it had been destroyed when Arcanon was. Now though, they knew differently.

"When I followed them to the ship, Wrench said something about cloaking the ship." James told them. "I think the area Arcanon landed in must have been within the area of the cloaking field. That's why I took down the co-ordinates so we could find it the old-fashioned way!"

"Snide, Sledge AND the Dark Energem." Betty said, looking incredibly worried. "That doesn't even bear thinking about."

"Not to mention we're still short a Ranger." Kendall reminded them. "We've narrowed the list down to a hundred candidates; I was hoping to start trying them out this week..."

"That would be great, but we can't wait." Chase stated. They all looked to him. "Guys, Sledge, Snide AND the Dark Energem. The longer we wait, the more time we give them to get their shit together and come at us. I say we take everything we have, and go at them Operation Sledgehammer style. All the Zords, roll over them before they get a chance to get anything prepared."

"That's a thought, but if we do that there's no way we can guarantee the Dark Energem's been destroyed." Shelby answered. They all looked to her as she took a deep breath. "What if we launch a sneak attack? Get on board Sledge's ship, we take the Dark Energem away from them before they even know we're there and get a chance to use it. Then, we take them down."

"It's risky." Ivan conceded. "But finding our elusive Silver Ranger, uniting the Energems and destroying the Dark Energem would be a lot simpler if there were no more foes attacking us."

"It would definitely buy us time." Kendall agreed. "Tyler, you're the leader in the field. This call is up to you. We'll go along with whatever you decide."

Tyler looked to Shelby and nodded his head.

"I say we go for it." He answered. "Sledge isn't going to know what hit him!"

Over on Sledge's ship, the bachelor party was in full swing. With things now recharging, Sledge had started up a few non-essential systems for entertainment, and all the monsters that were still on the ship, the ones that hadn't decided to go their own way were assembled. Sledge was in the middle of the room with a microphone in his hand, dancing around.

"I wanna travel the world, turn it upside down!" He sang as the assembled monsters cheered and danced around him, the words being put up on a big screen for anyone that wanted to join in. The impromptu karaoke performance was interrupted though as an alarm sounded, and all the non-essential systems immediately booted own.

"What is that?" Sledge yelled, more upset by the fact his performance and his bachelor party had been interrupted than the possibility of an invasion. Snide turned a screen on to the surveillance system, trying to track down the source of the disturbance.

"It's the proximity alarm. Nine people have come inside our security perimeter!" Snide told him, turning to face him with his sword levelled over his shoulder. "I'll give you exactly three guesses who that's likely to be!"

"The Rangers attacking us?" Sledge demanded. "I thought you said this ship was hidden!"

"They have had months to search for it!" Snide responded sarcastically. "Frankly I'm amazed it took them this long!"

"They would dare interrupt my wedding?" Sledge roared, staggering a little before steadying himself on a bulkhead trying to figure out what to do next.

"Perhaps if I go..."

"No Fury, you and Snide stay right here." He told him. "I don't want my Best Man and my Groomsman getting all bruised and battered before the ceremony. You there! Badussa!"

The monster Sledge was pointing at just gestured to himself as he lowered his tankard from his lips.

"You can stop them with your amulet!" Sledge told him. "If I have nine Ranger statues to decorate my ship with, you can name any reward you want!"

Badussa just lifted his tankard to his lips, sank the remainder of his drink and slammed the tankard down, before standing up. He let out a huge belch, before grabbing his sword and his amulet and heading for the door. Snide came over to Sledge's side.

"So, this'll be the first time the Rangers will come up against both of us!" He commented.

"And with any luck, it'll be the last!" Sledge laughed, heading back to the karaoke machine. "Now, how about I show you this little ditty I picked up in Japan?"

Out in the woods, the Rangers were making their way towards the ship, following James' co-ordinates. They wanted to make the most of the advantage they had, aiming to get to the ship before Sledge started launching his attacks again.

James was making the best use of cover, moving silently, yet quickly between trees and rocks. Although there were no signs of any aliens patrolling, the others were doing the same, not wanting to press their luck or lose their advantage.

James got behind a tree, at which Tyler joined him. He had a huge smile on his face, despite the danger of the mission. He was delighted to have James back by his side, and be fighting the forces of evil with his father.

"The ship isn't too much farther." James told him. "Just over that ridge, we'll be able to see it."

"Guys, I'm only picking up seven of you." Betty said over the communicator. James and Tyler looked ahead of them, seeing Koda and Ivan a little way ahead of them.

"We must be on the edge of their cloaking field." Kendall answered, coming to the same conclusion they were. "Alright, from this point on, we'll be out of contact."

"Ten four." Betty answered. "Good luck Doodlebug."

With that, Kendall signed off and the team started to make their way forward. If they were inside the cloaking field, they doubted they could be far from the ship. Unfortunately they were answered rather abruptly as a hoard of viviks suddenly appeared.

"Well, there goes our sneak attack!" Ivan declared as they all ran to intercept the vivks. It looked like too many to be a basic guard patrol, so it seemed more likely that they had been sent out to intercept the Rangers. They were quickly surrounded and in the midst of battle, giving Badussa time to make it from the ship. He strode purposefully towards the Rangers, eager to make short work of them. After 65 million years on Sledge's ship, he was eager to get out of it what he could, and the offer of a favour he could name was simply too good to pass up!

"Things are about to get a little rocky!" He said in a gravelly voice as he approached them. He held up his amulet, which looked like a shrunken head, and looked for his first victim. He aimed it directly at Koda, at which a beam shot from the amulet, straight into Koda's eyes. There was a puff of smoke, but when it cleared, all that was left was a statue.

"KODA!" Ivan yelled, seeing what had happened to his friend. "Undo this magic at once foul fiend!"

Unfortunately as Ivan ran for Badussa, drawing his sword, he too was struck by the amulet's power. Riley was coming to back Ivan up when the monster got him too, meaning he had now defeated a third of the Rangers in only seconds!

"Fall back!" Tyler called out as he and Chase pulled out their Dino Blasters, laying down covering fire to try and cover their escape. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Badussa managed to find an opening to turn them into statues too.

"I am Badussa, and I am PETRIFYING!" He called out triumphantly as the remaining four Rangers quickly realised the gravity of their situation.

"Guys, we need to get out of here, NOW!" Kendall called out.

"But..."

"NOW!" She reiterated, signalling for them to run as fast as they could. She hated to leave the others as well, they meant the world to her, but she knew that staying to be turned into statues as well wasn't going to help anyone. It was better to get away and come back when they had figured out a plan for freeing the others.

As they tried to run, they saw a wall of viviks coming up behind them. They must have flanked them and come around behind, cutting off their escape, which meant that the Rangers were now trapped! Kendall felt hands on her, grabbing her and turning her to face the monster coming towards her. She tried to screw her eyes closed, but as one of them yanked her hair, her involuntary reflex caused her to look straight into the amulet.

"They've got Dr Morgan now!" Shelby shrieked as she, James and Phillipe tried to find somewhere to run to, or somewhere to hide. Her plan had fallen apart spectacularly, leaving the team exposed and surrounded.

"We need to destroy that amulet!" James stated. "It's the only way!"

"But how do we do that when we can't even look at it?" Phillipe responded as he was busy trying to clear a way for them to escape.

In an act of sheer desperation, Shelby turned her back on Badussa and started firing her Dino Blaster behind her, wildly firing in all directions in the vain hopes of getting lucky. Even she knew how futile this was, but Badussa's laughter only confirmed it. However, his laughter was interrupted by a scream.

"What happened?" She asked, before turning around to see if she had somehow hit him. She turned in time to see Heckyl marching straight at Badussa, firing blasts his way. When he turned towards her, she could see he had his goggles on. Somehow, they had protected him from Badussa's rays.

"Heckyl?" She asked. She saw him powering up another blast, and launching it for her, but it went sailing straight over her shoulder, destroying the viviks behind her. He turned back to Badussa in time to see the monster starting to back up.

"How DARE you attack me?" Badussa yelled at him.

"I know what it's like to lose an entire world." Heckyl told him. "I'm here to see you pay for your crimes!"

He launched another attack, at which Badussa fled the scene. He looked at Shelby, who was just staring at him completely confused, before he turned and walked away.

As the dust settled, Shelby, Phillipe and James were left alone with the statues of their former friends. Shelby went to Tyler, reaching out for his face, feeling her heart tearing to pieces.

"It's...it's all my fault." She whimpered as she touched the face of the man she loved, finding only cold stone beneath her fingers.

"Shelby, we need to get them out of here." Phillipe told her. "If we wait too long, they may come back."

Shelby just nodded in understanding, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. She had already said more than enough, and it was her friends that paid the price.


	5. Stone The Crows

It took some time for Phillipe, James and Shelby to get their friends back to the Command Centre. Even using their enhanced strength from the Energems, they still were trying to bring back six life-sized stone statues. James had managed to flag down a truck on the freeway. The man WAS a little curious what three strangers were doing so far from town with six statues, but once Phillipe opened his wallet, all his questions disappeared in an instant and he was more than happy to just drop them off at the museum.

Phillipe and James set down the last statue, taking care not to damage them. None of them knew what kind of effect any damage done to the statues would have once they figured out how to break Badussa's spell and turn them back, and frankly none of them wanted to find out.

Shelby just sat silently, staring at Tyler's statue. She still couldn't believe it had come to this. Her team trusted her, they had gone with her plan over Chase's and now in a very short battle it had cost them two thirds of their forces. She didn't know if Tyler and the others were conscious, or if they could think or anything while they were petrified, but she couldn't help thinking that if they could and they could speak to them, they would be telling her that it was her fault.

"Careful." James said as Phillipe positioned the last statue. He just looked to them.

"We need to find a way to destroy Badussa's amulet." Phillipe announced. "I don't know if that alone will break the spell, but at least it should stop him petrifying anyone else until we can destroy him."

"That's a great idea, but one problem. How do you destroy him without turning to stone yourselves?" Margaret asked him, taking her fiancé's hand. "I mean, I know that inevitably there'll be statues of you, but I'd really prefer it if you weren't one of them."

"Maybe just this once you escalate the battle?" Allison suggested, looking to Chase. They all turned to stare at her. "That amulet works by the beam going into your eyes right? How can Badussa do that if you're in a cockpit?"

"It's definitely an appealing idea." Betty answered. "There's only one problem."

She pointed to the statue of Kendall, in particular to the necklace carrying her Energem, which had also turned to stone.

"Those aren't going to work." She continued. "If the Energems aren't active..."

"Then the Zords that they're bonded to won't work either." James sighed. "The Tyranno Zord, Plesio Zord, Pteara Zord...they're the only ones with cockpits."

"And the Titano Zord needs all the active Energems available to operate." Phillipe reminded them. "Without a Silver Ranger, the only way we could call it is if we had more active Energems."

"None of our remaining Zords have cockpits." James confirmed. "So what do we do?"

Sarah held up a hand slowly. They all looked around at her.

"Um...I _might_ have an idea?" She offered rather weakly. "I'm not even sure it'll work."

"What is it?" James asked her.

"I've been reading this book Zenowing had and...I think...there's a way we can make a new zord." She told them. The silence which followed was deafening. "I guess..."

"You don't even know if it'll work?" Phillipe asked. She just shrugged.

"Even Zenowing's notes said it was theoretical." She told them. "The only Zords that were created were the ones the Energems made from the remains of the dinosaurs they bonded to. He never got round to actually trying it."

"Does anyone have another plan?" Betty asked them. Again, the silence was more telling than any answer that anyone could give.

"Very well, then it is clear what we must do." Keeper stated. "Shelby, you and Sarah are the only ones that read Zenowing's notes. It will be up to you."

"Let...let Sarah do it." Shelby told him, looking completely defeated. "You wouldn't want my help. It's my fault you're all in this mess in the first place."

"Shelby..."

"It was my idea to go to the ship, to try a sneak attack. How could I not have figured that Sledge would actually have defences ready?" She muttered. "All of this is all because of me."

"Shelby, I can't do this without you!" Sarah told her, bringing the book over. "I can assemble some of the supplies we need, but the power, that has to come from Energems."

"Then choose one of the ones that didn't just doom all of our friends to become garden decorations!" Shelby responded. Betty came over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"That isn't the Shelby I know, or the one we need." Betty told her. "You know what my Doodlebug told me about you all through the time she was here? She told me about some headstrong, opinionated, fearless girl that irritated the hell out of her! But...she also told me that girl became one of the greatest assets she's ever seen."

"Dr Morgan said that?" Shelby asked. "About me?"

"You might have thawed to each other over all this time, but I don't think you have any idea how much she's come to respect you now. I even once heard her refer to you as her apprentice." Betty told her. "She's never in her life had an apprentice, or intern or anything of the sort. She believes in you, and so do I. Don't let her down now."

"But...what if I screw up again?" Shelby asked her. "What if I only make things worse?"

"The only way you can make things worse is by doing nothing to try and improve things." James told her. He looked over to Keeper, taking a deep breath. "Isn't that right?"

"I don't know if this is..."

"Personally I believe this is the perfect time." Phillipe interrupted Keeper. "You asked us to keep your secret and we have, but now, now I think the truth will be more use to everyone than a lie."

Keeper took a deep breath and sat before the assembled group. Throwing his hands wide, he created an image of the day he arrived on Earth. The images started to shift and move, playing out before them.

"I already told you that I brought the Energems to Earth. I also told you that I set the bomb aboard Sledge's ship which blasted him to the car side of the Galaxy." Keeper told them. "I did not, however, tell you the full story."

"The...full story?" Allison asked. "What is there to tell?"

"Sledge was towing some asteroids in his electronet when he came to Earth. He had gathered them to sell to one of his clients." Keeper told them. "When my bomb went off, it disabled the electronets, but the asteroids were already close enough to Earth to be affected by their gravity."

They all watched as the image showed blazing asteroids raining down from the skies, coming down on the landscape with incredible force. Flames engulfed everything they touched, and forests and mountains were levelled in an instant. They all saw this and looked to Keeper in shock.

"Yes, I did send Sledge to the opposite side of the galaxy. Yes, I did delay his attempts to recover the Energems." Keeper recanted his tale sadly. "And in the process, I indirectly caused the single greatest extinction level event in your planet's history."

"So the destruction of the dinosaurs...that was you?" Allison asked. He just nodded, before turning back to Shelby.

"My actions irreversibly changed the entire landscape of your planet's development. That is something I cannot change." Keeper told her. "But I have spent every day of the last 65 million years ensuring your planet has a future. I cannot change what I have already done; only what I do now."

Shelby got up, wiping her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve, before looking to the others.

"Sarah, what do we need?" Shelby asked.

"We need metal, crystals, some Energem power, the remains of a dinosaur large enough to form a Megazord..." She rhymed off, before gulping. "...and a freaking miracle, not to mention the hope that I've read a 50 or so million year old book correctly."

"Well, if there is such a thing as miracles, today would be a good day for it." Shelby stated. "Allison, grab the geode from Dr Morgan's desk. If this works, I have a feeling she'll be OK with it. Betty, Leanne, grab us some metal. Sarah, James, Phillipe, Matt...you all come with me."

"Why, what are we going to do?" Matt asked.

"There's a Spinosaurus in the lobby. It's the size of a T-Rex!" She reminded them. "If we do manage to bring it to life, I imagine Dr Morgan would appreciate it if we did that OUTSIDE the museum!"

"Good call!" Matt replied as they all mobilised to complete their assigned tasks. Shelby started work on a new Dino Charger to control the new Zord. She already knew that this was the Hail Mary of Hail Mary plays, but right now, any chance was better than no chance at all.

On Sledge's ship, Poisandra was in the Command Room directing viviks to decorate for her wedding ceremony. Now that they were actually decorating, it was finally beginning to feel like her wedding was really going to happen at long last! Sledge was lying on a bench a little way off, his hand over his face and groaning.

"Get rid of those tools, this is the most magical day of my life!" She commanded. "I want more flowers, and candles...oh, and a nice red carpet right here for me to walk down the aisle...!"

"And get that fruit I like!" Sledge groaned. "And aspirin! LOTS of aspirin!"

"I do hope you enjoyed your bachelor party Sledgeums!" She said sweetly, seeing her future husband starting to suffer the ill-effects of his last night as a single man. Just then, there was a bang and the whole ship shook. "What was that?"

"That was Wrench; he says the engines are almost fully charged!" Fury told him. Wrench just lay back.

"Excellent." He responded. "The sooner this ship is off this planet the better!"

Meanwhile, the team had taken all the components they needed out into the woods so they wouldn't be seen. While time was a factor, they knew that assembling a Spinosaurus in the parking lot was going to attract at least some attention as to what they were doing. Sarah was busy reading the book, while the others assembled the Spinosaurus, along with the extra components they needed. Sarah read through the instructions.

"Alright, so we've got crystals to harness the spirit, metal to become the armour, the base material, that would be Spiney here..."

"Spiney?" Shelby asked. Sarah just shrugged.

"Tyler calls his Rexy." She reminded Shelby. The Pink Ranger just groaned.

"Alright, what does it say we need now?" She asked her.

"Alright, if you three just stand around it and channel your Energem power into it." She told them. "Um...Zenowing's not too specific on exactly HOW to do that..."

"It's OK; we'll give it a try." Shelby told her. She stood before the Spinosaurus' nose, while Phillipe and James took up positions around the sides. They all held out their Energems and held them aloft, at which energy started to flow from them. Shelby smiled as she watched the crystals glowing and the metal starting to grow and form up around it.

"I think...I think its working!" Shelby said excitedly. The Spinozord was starting to take shape, taking on a dark blue hue and starting to take on the characteristics of the other Zords. "Sarah, I think we did it! We created a..."

Just then, the power cut off and the zord slumped down to the ground. It didn't show any signs of life at all. They all inspected it carefully, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Shelby, try the Charger." Betty suggested. Shelby threw the Dino Charger at it, but it rebounded off the Zord's nose and spun off into the woods. Shelby just sighed.

"I'll get it." Allison said, running off to retrieve it. Shelby could see the disappointment in Sarah's face.

"It's alright Sarah. You did your best." Shelby tried to reassure her.

"I...I don't know what went wrong." Sarah commented, looking through her book. "I did everything Zenowing said, it...it should have worked!"

"Well, we KIND of have a Zord." Leanne offered weakly.

"What we have is a big ass statue if we can't figure out how to get the dang thing to move." Betty said, kicking it like an old car. There was a scream from a little way off that caught everyone's attention.

"Guys? I think you're going to want to see this!" Allison called out. They quickly ran over the ridge, finding Allison standing in the middle of what was clearly a campsite. There was a hastily made tent and some basic supplies that had been foraged. Matt went to the fire pit and held a hand over it.

"It's still warm." He told them. "Whoever was here can't have gone far."

"And why would I?" They heard a familiar voice say as Heckyl came into view, carrying a couple of fish in one hand. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

"HECKYL!" Everyone other than James called out. Shelby and Phillipe pulled out their Dino Blasters and aimed them right for him.

"Stay back!" Shelby warned him. Heckyl didn't seem to pay the threat much mind though; he just hung up the fish on a nearby branch as he started to prepare cooking utensils.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic! It's Snide that's after your skin, not me." He told them as he powered up his hand. Shelby and Phillipe powered up their blasters to make a point, but Heckyl just flicked his gaze in the direction of the fire pit. "I don't have matches, do you mind?"

He launched a blast, lighting the fire pit at which they all started to surround him.

"What's your game Heckyl?" Phillipe asked him. "You and Snide are one and the same!"

"News flash, we've kind of had a little...parting of ways." Heckyl told them, pulling down his collar to show that he no longer had the neck tattoo that marked both him and Snide.

"I remember you...you were the one that helped me get away from the ship!" James said, pointing at Heckyl. "He showed up and took out some of the guards that were after me!"

"You also helped us against Badussa." Shelby recalled, considering this new information. If Heckyl was on the level, if just like Zenowing and Doomwing he had been separated from his other half, then...was it possible Heckyl was genuinely trying to help them? That he wasn't evil after all?

"I wasn't saving you." Heckyl scoffed as he turned his attention to the fire. "With this guy, I knew that having you Rangers figure out where Sledge is would lead to him being destroyed once and for all. As for Badussa, he's just as bad as Arcanon. He's destroyed whole galaxies. I should know how that feels. I lost my planet to Arcanon when he got that Dark Energem of his."

"Wait...you were on Sentai 6?" Shelby asked. "You survived? How?"

"Does it matter?" Heckyl asked her. "I'm the only one left. Everything I knew is gone. Now...all I can do is try to ensure that it never happens again."

This struck a chord with Shelby. She understood completely working to right something that went wrong. They were interrupted by a rasping voice.

"I told you you'd pay Heckyl!" Badussa said menacingly as he approached, going for his amulet.

"Cover your eyes!" She screamed. "Don't look at it!"

They all started to scatter, but Heckyl pulled on his goggles, protecting himself. He ran at Badussa, who fired off his amulet, only for the beam to rebound harmlessly off his goggles. Heckyl grabbed Badussa, wrestling with him, trying to get the amulet from his grasp. It fired off randomly, beams shooting all over the place.

"Guys, we have to get that amulet off him!" Shelby shrieked, seeing what was going on. She ran for Badussa, leaping high into the air and kicking him in the face. He flew backwards, at which Heckyl found the amulet in his grasp.

"Guys, he's lost his amulet!" Matt yelled as he ran for Badussa, throwing fists at him with all the skills he had learned in the bare-knuckle pits.

"Matt, get out of there!" Shelby told him.

"We'll distract him!" Matt told her. "You guys destroy that amulet!"

"We might not be able to do much, but we can buy you a couple of minutes at least!" Leanne added, rushing into Badussa and body-checking him through an oak tree. Betty and Allison joined in, throwing rocks at him while Sarah joined Matt in pounding him.

Heckyl tossed the amulet onto the ground, before powering up his hand. James, Phillipe and Shelby all surrounded it, powering up their blasters.

"Here goes nothing!" Shelby said, pulling the trigger. In a bright flash of light, the amulet was reduced to a charred mess, and energy leaked out, indicating that its power had been broken. Shelby heard her communicator bleeping.

"Shelby...what...what happened?" Kendall asked her. "The last thing I remember..."

"It was a monster's spell, I'll explain later!" Shelby told her. "Just get your butts to our location as soon as you can!"

With that, she cut off the communication, just as Matt and Sarah flew past her, hitting the ground.

"Uh...not to be a drama queen or anything, but even without his amulet, this guy hits REALLY hard!" Matt told them, scrambling back to his feet. "I think it's time you brought out the big guns!"

"UNLEASH THE POWER!" Shelby, Phillipe and James all called out, morphing into Ranger mode. James and Phillipe led off the attack, but out the corner of her eye, Shelby noticed Heckyl walking away.

"Heckyl!" She called after him. He turned back towards her. "Thanks."

"A word to the wise, get off this planet. Soon." Heckyl told her. "Take it from someone who knows."

With that, he turned and walked away.

"Shelby, we could use a hand here!" Phllipe called out, bringing her attention back to the battle in hand. Heckyl's odd behaviour and enigmatic warning would have to wait.


	6. Blasting Off Again

On Sledge's ship, Wrench was overseeing the final stages of the charging. The Dark Energem was making short work of recharging the power cells, he was thankful that Sledge hadn't managed to end up destroying his own ship, and a significant proportion of the surrounding area along with it. Just one of the many reasons he was desperate to leave was Sledge's disregard for his work.

Sledge had never given him any praise for his work. 65 million years of keeping his fortress on wings running and Sledge had never once praised him for the fact he had managed to keep a relic not just operating, but still a viable and dangerous weapon. He had constantly berated him for his technology and was only too quick to point out his failures. He had even on more than one occasion almost completely destroyed Wrench's work, along with everyone on board with his boorish and reckless disregard for the finer points of engineering and how dangerous the devices he was working on could be. Now, he had finally had enough.

Not much on the ship was actually his, just his tool box and a select few tools. It didn't take him long to pack it up. Checking the gauge one more time, he satisfied himself that the charging was complete.

Taking the Energem out of the engine with a set of tongs, he placed it back in the book Arcanon had used to protect him from its power. Wrench had seen that truly evil creatures appeared to be able to handle the Dark Energem without ill effect, but he wasn't taking any chances. He placed an envelope in the book along with it.

"Well, I'm delivering it." Wrench chuckled to himself. "It's not my fault if it takes him until I've left to find my resignation."

With that, he tucked his toolkit under his arm, and held his axe in his hand, while he took up the book in the other. Sledge told him to bring him the Dark Energem once the ship had finished charging. No one said he had to stick around once he had.

Down in the woods, Shelby, James and Phillipe were still battling Badussa, keeping him busy while they waited for the others to return. Even without his amulet, it was clear that he was a strong fighter, and they had resorted to using the most powerful attacks available to them just to keep him at bay.

"Ankylo QUAKE!" James roared, driving his fists down into the ground, creating a seismic shock that staggered Badussa.

"Royal Ranger PUNCH!" Phillipe added, swinging around and casting out his wrecking ball attack. It caught Badussa square in the face, at which he started sparking and flopped to his knees. He glared up at them as he tried to compose himself to continue the battle.

"Sorry we're late guys." Tyler announced as he and the others arrived. "It looks like you have things well in hand here."

"Maybe, but I'm sure glad you showed up." James added. "I don't mind telling you, I'm almost done."

"Well, you know what they say; there is no kill like overkill!" Tyler stated, powering up into T-Rex Supercharge Mode. "What do you say we see if he can take the power of nine Energems?"

All the Rangers lined up behind Tyler, laying their hands on him and channelling their strength through him. He levelled his blaster Badussa's way just as he finally got to his feet.

"Victory Maximum, Final STRIKE!" They all called out as Tyler opened fire. Badussa didn't even hit the ground. As the blast slammed home, he was vaporised in the spot, leaving nothing behind. Tyler shouldered his weapon. "Monster EXTINCT!"

"You guys showed up just in time." Phillipe complimented them. "I don't mind admitting that monster nearly had us."

"Hey, we're the ones that should thank you. If it wasn't for you, we'd still all be statues." Chase reminded them as Matt, Sarah, Betty, Leanne and Allison all came out of hiding.

"He's right, you guys did great today." Tyler said with a smile as he looked to Shelby.

"Yeah, it's amazing what you can do when those you love are in danger." Matt chipped in. He cast a glance over at Kendall, who was just powering down. Just then, the ground shook and everyone struggled to stay on their feet. Tyler looked up in time to see the source of the disturbance, seeing Sledge's ship starting to rise over the tree line.

"Oh no! Sledge's ship!" Tyler yelled, reaching out, almost as though he hoped that he could reach it and somehow stop it from leaving the Earth's atmosphere. He levelled the Super Blaster at it, and fired off a few shots, but having exhausted most of the power on Badussa, the few shots that did hit it rebounded off its hull harmlessly.

"Let it go Tyler." Kendall sighed. "He must have powered it with the Dark Energem. It looks like...we're too late."

"At least it'll take him a while to begin another attack." Phillipe said, trying to find some good in this situation. They had managed to destroy Badussa and return their friends to their original state, but in the process they had lost Sledge and the Dark Energem.

"Well, we're alive, and I've lived long enough to know if you walk away, that's a win." Betty replied.

"Still, it might not be a total loss." Sarah said with a bright smile. "You guy have GOT to see this!"

They followed her as she ran off, trying to keep pace with her, but when they found her, she was just standing, staring at an empty section of forest.

"What...what is it?" Tyler asked. Shelby, Phillipe, James, Allison, Betty, Matt and Leanne all started to move slowly, all looking more than a little stunned. None of them could bring themselves to say a word.

"Um...what's going on?" Chase asked them.

"It...it was right here!" Sarah gasped.

"What was?" Tyler asked them.

"It didn't even work! It wasn't...it wasn't powered up!" Shelby commented.

"What wasn't?" Kendall asked them. Shelby turned towards them.

"When you guys were petrified, we thought we'd need a Zord with a cockpit to defeat Badussa, so...we tried Sarah's method to make one." Shelby told them. "It...KIND of worked."

"Wait, what do you mean 'kind of'." Kendall asked them.

"We managed to MAKE the Spinozord, but...it wouldn't power up. We couldn't get it to come to life!" Sarah said with a gulp.

"Spino...wait...THAT'S where the Spinosaurus from the entrance lobby went?" Kendall asked them. "Well, where is it now?"

"That's just the thing, it WAS right here!" Sarah stated, turning back to the clearing. "It...it was dead! I was hoping maybe you'd be able to revive it Dr Morgan."

"It's a zord; it has to weigh hundreds of tons." Chase replied. "How could anyone take it?"

"I don't know, but whatever happened to it, it's not here now." Shelby answered.

Up on Sledge's ship, Poisandra was over the moon that the ship was now in flight. Sledge had given her his promise that once the ship was in the air, they would get married. The ship was already set up for the ceremony, so all they needed to do was get safely into orbit and then they would be able to begin the proceedings.

"Yipee, we're flying high again! It's time to get married!" She cackled in delight, showing Sledge some brochures. "I think we should honeymoon in New York...or maybe Honolulu...or maybe Zandar..."

"None of those places will exist once my plan hatches." Sledge said, taking the brochures off her and throwing them away. He could see the disappointed look in Poisandra's face. "I'll tell you what my sweet, how about we go asteroid surfing in the Milky Way?"

"YAY! I'm just going to go pack!" She screamed. "Now don't forget, you promised! I want that ceremony as soon as possible!"

"Master Sledge, now that the ship is done charging, I brought you the Dark Energem." Wrench told Sledge, handing him the book. He could see that Sledge was distracted, and so figured this was a good time to hand it to him.

"Come to papa!" Sledge said, taking the book from him, before stowing it under his arm. Wrench felt elated to see this. Just as he predicted, Sledge was far too distracted between his plan for the Earth and his wedding to bother even looking in the book. "I'm just going to get ready for my wedding. My Poisandra deserves the best after all!"

As he watched him go, Wrench just fist-pumped the air. It would be some time before Sledge would open the book and see his resignation letter. He didn't doubt that Sledge wouldn't be happy he was leaving, but he was, if nothing, a stickler for the letter of a contract. In the business, a bounty hunter only got work as long as he had a reputation for sticking to his word. While it was skirting the SPIRIT of the contract a little, Wrench was sure that by the time Sledge realised he had been handed a notice that Wrench was terminating his contract with him, he would already have exhausted any notice period he still had remaining. Wrench went to one of the drop pods and climbed inside.

"Enjoy your honeymoon Sledge!" He told him. "You two deserve each other!"

With that, he launched the drop pod.

Back in the Dino Lab, the whole team was assembled to decompress after a long day. A lot had happened, and there was a lot to process.

"OK, so Sledge managed to launch his ship, and he's still got the Dark Energem." Kendall reminded them. "Sledge has been trying to get the Energems for 65 million years. He's not just going to give up now."

"And what's he been doing since his ship crashed?" Phillipe asked, addressing a rather big elephant in the room. The rest of the day had been a bit of a blur of activity as they hoped to put an end to Sledge and the Dark Energem before they had a chance to consolidate their plans. Now that chance had passed though, it left them in the uncomfortable position that they still didn't know what that plan was!

"Do...do you think it might have anything to do with our missing Spinozord?" Sarah asked, suddenly looking very worried. She couldn't imagine anything worse than one of her creations being the cause of their eventual destruction. She'd only been trying to help by creating it, and it was bad enough thinking that she had created a zord that didn't actually work. The thought that a zord might be out there that could be used against them was a different matter altogether.

"No, I don't think so." Tyler assured her. "I mean...Sledge couldn't have known you were even making that zord, never mind have actually planned for you to do so and stolen it, right?"

"Well wherever it is, someone has it." James said, looking worried. "We just have no idea who they are or what they want with it."

"OK, I tried scanning for it, and I couldn't find any trace of the Spinozord, so until it shows up, we really have no way of finding it." Kendall told them. "So let's concentrate on one problem at a time. What's Sledge up to?"

"Heckyl...Heckyl warned me." Shelby informed them. "He said we should get off the planet."

"Yeah, but just because he helped us once, doesn't mean we should trust him, does it?" Chase posed to them. Ivan just sighed.

"Perhaps, but perhaps even now Heckyl is one step ahead. Perhaps he knows something we don't." Ivan suggested. "Perhaps what Sledge is planning is so huge, so devastating that the only safe place will be outer space."

"Now that...that's a comforting thought." Margaret grumbled.

"So what do we do now?" Matt asked. Just then, a cell phone rang. They all looked around trying to figure out who it was, before finally realising that it was Koda. Koda pulled out his cell phone, realising it was an alarm he had set. He stared at it wide-eyed.

"I forget, we so busy!" Koda said, looking to the others. "I on show tonight! I need get there!"

"Koda, there'll be other shows." Chase sighed. "We've kind of got a lot on here..."

"This BIG show!" Alessandra told them. "Koda and Jack main event!"

"Wait, that's TONIGHT?" Kendall asked, looking to Koda. It had slipped her mind too given everything that had been going on. She knew how happy and proud Koda was that he and Jack would be headlining a show right here in Amber Beach. It was going to be Koda's first championship match. She looked to the others. "Guys, we should get ready to go."

"We really don't feel much like..."

"Guys, there's not much else we can do right now." Kendall told them. "Besides, this is Koda's big moment! He and Jack are closing the show!"

"Wow, seriously? Dude, that's awesome!" Tyler exclaimed, looking to the others. "Hey, if we hurry, we can get ready and still be there in good time."

"I'm going to call Erin and Zack." Ivan stated. "Right now I think we could all use a little distraction."

"OK, Koda, go and get your stuff!" Kendall told him. "Everyone meet back here in ten minutes! GO!"

As they all ran off to get ready to go, Kendall looked to Koda and smiled.

"Thank you. I know you all very busy." Koda stated. Kendall gently stroked his arm.

"I'd never have missed this for the world." Kendall assured him. "Now hurry up. I don't have time to go home, so if I'm going to be cheering you on in one of your shirts, I need to get there in time to hit the merch tables."

As everyone scattered, Margaret just watched them go and shook her head with a grin on her face.

Meanwhile at a location quite a bit out of the city, Wrench was punching in the return trajectory for his drop pod. The last thing he needed once Sledge found out he had left was for him to accuse him of theft, and so he was programming the drop pod to return to the ship. There was a flash of light, and he turned around to see a familiar looking creature standing before him.

Wrench didn't exactly watch a LOT of television, but with Galaxy Warriors being the hottest show in the galaxy, even people that weren't fans were well aware of who Cosmo Royale was. He was the presenter and the public face of the show. As well as presenting the show, he was also the director, producer and the driving force behind the whole thing. He was easily as recognisable as their champion, Galvinax.

Cosmo was a surprisingly small creature, though Wrench imagined the camera made him look bigger. He was significantly shorter than Wrench, and only his top-hat brought him to Wrench's height. He had purple skin and yellow eyes, and was dressed in a very theatrical style, with a great-coat, boots and a suit, with a ruffled shirt all topped off by a top-hat, decorated with a winged skeleton. Even when the cameras weren't rolling, it was clear that Cosmo took his role as the face of the company seriously.

"Ah, I see you're here, I'm so glad you're punctual. Time is money and all that." Cosmo greeted him. "I am Cosmo Royal, Host, Director, Producer, Head Writer and Head of Talent Relations for the intergalactic juggernaut of entertainment that is Galaxy Warriors!"

"Wrench." Wrench replied, shaking his hand. "I'm really glad for this opportunity sir."

"Really, you didn't sound so enthusiastic when we spoke before." Cosmo said as he stroked his chin, considering Sledge. The cyborg wasn't terribly enthusiastic at all. The only position he could get on the show was an internship. He would be working on all the busy-work on the show, likely doing all the worst jobs that no one else wanted to do, and he would be doing so without even getting paid! The only benefit was that the position came with accommodation on the ship.

"I've had time to reconsider and...I guess sometimes to move up; you have to take a step down." Wrench told him, glancing back to the drop pod. "Whatever happens, I don't really see a future with my old boss."

"Well, there's always an opportunity to progress on my show. The only limit on where you can end up is the opportunities you make for yourself! That's my motto!" Cosmo told him. "If you've got the drive, I'm certain you won't be an intern for long."

"How...how long do your internships normally last?" Wrench asked him.

"Well...we do have one kid that's been an intern for the last 10 years, but that's more of an exception than the rule." Cosmo admitted. Wrench just hit the launch button on his drop pod, sending it blasting back to the ship.

"I've been treading water for millions of years. A decade's a walk in the park for me." Wrench answered.

"You won't regret this decision Wrench, that I assure you!" Cosmo stated as he took Wrench by the arm. "Madame Odius, take it away!"

With that, Wrench and Cosmo disappeared in a flash of light.


	7. Royal Gala Performance

The group arrived at the arena, heading to the rear entrance. He was already running tight for time, and they understood he needed to be backstage for the run-down of the running order for the night. The fans were already queuing, many of them having been there for a good couple of hours in preparation for the night. If he even attempted to go in the front door, they knew that he would never be able to get in.

After parking up, they joined the queue, which even by this early stage was looking more like the early stages of a mass protest. The sidewalk was packed with fans all eager to get in to see their favourites compete. There were some spirited, but quite good-natured arguments and debates going on between fans of different wrestlers as to what they could expect for the night. Banners and t-shirts were on full display as people proudly wore their hearts on their sleeves for their support. There were even a few people walking around in cosplay.

"Wow, this is insane!" Chase commented. "I haven't seen anything like this since Comicon!"

"I can tell you one thing, people definitely love Koda." Tyler said, looking to a huge cheer section that were dancing and chanting for him. "No matter what happens, the big guy is going to be amped!"

"I always love this." Alessandra said with a little bright smile, shifting her crutches to allow herself to tap her leg. "It even make this all worth it. Only wish I on show."

"Well, I know one thing." Allison chuckled, pointing over her shoulder. "I know when you come back; your groupies will be ready and waiting!"

Alessandra glanced over and saw a number of fans wearing her merchandise. A few girls were even dressed as her, complete with the full body-paint. Alessandra couldn't help grinning seeing this. While it was doubtful many would know that their idol was only a few feet away thanks to her habit of wrestling in full body paint, it was nice to know that she was missed and her fans were still so passionate to see her return. Phillipe came to them and gestured for them to follow him.

"Here, come with me." He told them.

"Are you serious?" Chase asked as they gathered their things. Phillipe just smiled.

"Sometimes it's good to have friends in high places." He told them cheekily as they were quickly ushered inside by security.

In the back, Jack was in his dressing room, separated from the others. It wasn't just the perk of being the champion, for years he'd been only too happy to share the locker room with the guys. He was quite a private person and he liked to keep his preparations, especially his preparations for his biggest matches private.

He had eaten early, ensuring he was prepared for the night ahead. He had already changed into his signature "blood stained" red and white tights and a pair of boots that he'd been wearing for well over 20 years, and was winding tape around his wrists, staring into the mirror.

"Run-down in five minutes Jack!" Carl called through the door. Jack didn't answer. He didn't need to; Carl knew that he would be there. It was a cornerstone of respect to be there on time, and even as a performer he would always be there for the run-down. As the champion, he was expected to lead by example. While some let the position go to their head, Jack always saw it more as a responsibility. The title was a privilege, one that showed that the company had faith in him to lead their product, and it was a privilege that could be taken away at any time. He was responsible for ensuring that the company was the best it could be, and was there to show others how to give their best and build a better brand for all involved. Ever since he had picked up the strap, he had intensified his training, and he had been the first to arrive at the arena every night and the last to leave.

He took out some pills, laying them on his table and crushed them beneath his whisky glass, before sweeping the powder into it. He'd always suffered migraines, but after taking on the responsibility as champion, they'd only seemed to get more frequent and a lot worse. He downed the whisky in one shot, and then stared at himself in the mirror, taking in his appearance. He was older than a lot of the guys in the locker room by a significant margin. Hell, a lot of the guys that were there weren't even born when he first laced up his boots, but looking into the mirror, he took a little time to admire what was looking back. He had been energised, he had been motivated, and he looked better now than he had done for years. Pulling on his shirt, he took one last look at himself, before grabbing the belt and throwing it over his shoulder.

He headed out into the main locker room finding everyone already gathered around waiting for him. Carl was holding the schedule for the night, and he was checking that everyone was in attendance. Seeing Jack take up his position at the back, he called everyone to attention.

"Alight guys, I know you're all eager to get on with things, but I just wanted to take a minute to let you all know that tonight is a huge night for us all. I have it on good authority that tonight; we have none other than Prince Phillipe III of Zandar in the audience, so congratulations you are officially all part of a royal gala performance!" He said, eliciting some comments from the guys. They'd heard of Phillipe, he'd been in the news a few times in his new role as an ambassador. It also meant there was bound to be a much bigger portion of the following day's news dedicated to the show. "Also, it's a big night for one of our guys, in exactly thirty five minutes; it'll be officially 39 years since Jack here first graced a wrestling ring."

Jack didn't react too much as he got a round of applause from the guys. He just nodded at the acknowledgement, but kept his mind on the business at hand. Carl went back to the schedule.

"Alright, here we go. In the opener, the Kollosal Koallition are taking on the Spitfires, the Koallition are going over. Anna Knoda, you're taking the win tonight over Jackie Knife, I saw some good stuff from you both recently I really want you both to show everyone why you two are the future here! Ryan, you're going over Plague, give me something to remember and there'll be something special for you in the near future. Finally before intermission, Galloway is going over on Danvers and Archer in a triple threat."

He took a breath, looking around the room as they all nodded in understanding.

"The Wolves, thanks for coming back guys, tonight you're dropping the straps to The Clash. You've had a great run guys, but we really need those belts back, and I know your schedules are a little busy right now."

There was a small laugh from the others. If it wasn't for Carl's decision to split up Jack and Koda and spark a feud between them, Davey and Eddie would probably have dropped the belts to them. They were one of the hottest teams on the planet, and they were signed to contracts elsewhere that made coming to Carl's shows a little problematic. They fist-bumped with the team they had been told they were losing to, showing respect for the guys that were going to be taking up their mantle and building on the reputation they had given the belts.

"Yoshida, you're taking the win over Dante, then finally we have The Archangel staring at the lights for The Assassin Jason Knightwood." Carl said, before looking to Jack. "As you all know, we'll be closing out the show with the streetfight between Jack and Koda for the strap. Koda, tonight's not your night."

She stepped over towards them both, looking between them.

"This thing you've got is absolute dynamite. I want to let it run a little longer and build to a bigger finish." He told them. "You're going to take out the ref, leaving the match without guidance for a while. Koda, I have a sequence to go over with you, but it'll end with you pinning Jack. I'll come out to take over and start the count, but at two...bam! I'm going to turn on you."

Koda nodded in understanding.

"We're going to turn the tables and it'll end in a screw-job, setting you two up for a bigger match down the road." Carl told them. Koda smiled as he nodded. "Jack you want to go over the finish with Koda?"

"I'll do it in a little bit." Jack told him, slapping Koda's shoulder. "Come talk to me in fifteen kid, I'm just going to hit the bathroom."

With that, Jack left the room, heading back to his changing room. He closed the door behind him, and headed into the bathroom, before doubling over and throwing up. Once he was done, he wiped his mouth and headed to the counter to pour himself another whisky.

In the arena, the Rangers and their friends had all taken up position in their chairs. Carl had arranged for them not just to have front-row seats, but had cordoned off an area for them as VIPs. Chase settled back into his chair.

"Now THIS is how you watch a show!" He said with a smile.

"It not about venue." Alessandra told him. "My first match in meat packing plant in front of 33 people. No even have chairs."

"Wow!" Allison stated, looking to her. "I...guess I've been to some skating tournaments that weren't exactly top tier but...wow!"

"Alright guys, we've got some time before the show starts." Kendall told them as she and Betty returned, carrying bags. They started handing out shirts. "Put these on."

"Wait...you're joking right?" Zack asked, chuckling. Kendall just glared at him. "Um...you're...not joking?"

Kendall pulled off her jacket, putting it over the back of her chair showing she was already in Koda's t-shirt.

"She's not joking." They all chorused, beginning to change their shirts. They had barely finished when the doors opened and fans started filing into the arena, beginning to fill it up.

In the back, Koda knocked on the door of Jack's changing room, patiently waiting for Jack to invite him in. He went inside once Jack called him through.

"We talk about sequence?" Koda asked him. Jack just gestured to Koda to sit down.

"There's time for that." Jack told him. "We're going on last, please just sit for a bit."

Koda did as he was told. Jack poured them both a whisky, offering one to Koda. The Blue Ranger just looked at it curiously.

"It's not poison kid." Jack told him. Koda took the whisky reluctantly at which Jack touched his glass to Koda's.

"Slainte!" He stated. Koda just looked confused. "It's a Gaelic toast, it means health!"

"Slinky?" Koda offered. Jack just laughed a little.

"Slainte." He corrected the Blue Ranger. Koda touched his glass to Jack's, repeating the toast, before drinking it. He started coughing which amused Jack to no end. "Not a whisky man eh?"

"Yucky!" Koda stated, looking at him with a look of disgust on his face. Jack just shrugged.

"It's not for everyone." Jack told him, before looking to Koda. "Listen Koda, you're great, you're easily one of the best I've seen. I'm not just blowing smoke up your arse; I wouldn't have vouched for you if I didn't mean it."

"I appreciate." Koda told him.

"Now, this is the biggest match you've had. I want you to remember that." Jack told him. "I want you to give it your all kid, make sure you put on the best you have. Don't hold anything back."

"I always give..."

"What I mean is...I want you to leave it all out there. I want you to show everyone what you have, what I see in you." Jack told him. "I'm going to give you the lead as much as I can. What you do with it is up to you."

Koda just nodded in understanding. Jack crushed another couple of pills, scraping them into his glass, at which Koda looked concerned. He just smiled.

"Little headache. Trust me, I've felt worse. I once wrestled Kendo Nagasaki on a broken ankle." He chuckled. He took a sip from his whisky. "Alright, I'm going to go for the piledriver. We might have some props, it is a streetfight after all, but I'm going for the piledriver. I want you to reverse it. Pick me up, then hit that big slam of yours. Really give it some mustard, I want you to make people think I'm going through the damn boards."

Koda nodded, hearing him describe what was coming.

"Go for the cover, I'll lie there like a sloth in a coma. That's when Carl will come in." Jack explained. "He'll stop the count at two, then you two have a barny. Don't worry about getting a little physical with him, Carl's up for it, but after a bit I'll be back at it. I'll set about you with the chair and Carl will fast-count it." Jack explained. "You got it?"

"I remember." Koda answered, at which he and Jack both finished their drinks. "Thank you."

"Hey, save it for later kid." Jack told him. "Go get ready."

With that, Koda left the dressing room, leaving Jack alone. Jack lay down as he started to thrash out some push-ups to get the blood flowing and warm himself up.

Out in the main arena, the fans were getting to their seats, after stocking up on snacks and hitting the merchandise stands. The time was wearing on and the excitement was now palpable. Kendall was in her seat, sitting on the edge, eager to see everything start.

"You are aware there's like seven matches before his right?" Matt teased her. Kendall just smiled and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but...I just can't help it. Koda's worked so hard for this!" Kendall told him. "You should have seen how excited he was when I brought him ice cream to celebrate."

"Yeah, they'll do that to you." Betty commented. "I remember when your Aunt Kendrix took a project to her first science fair. She might have come home with no eyebrows, but she was bouncing around like a demented kangaroo on a sugar high all day."

The house lights dipped and suddenly music started blaring. The fans exploded as they realised this was the beginning of the show. The spotlights went to the entrance ramp, where Carl was starting to make his way to the ring, dressed in a suit for the occasion. He took a microphone as he got there; tapping it to make sure it was working, before waiting for the fans to settle down.

"What's up Amber Beach?" He yelled into the microphone, getting a massive pop from the crowd. He waited until they settled down again before beginning. "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is a very special night! Tonight, we have a challenger for the Heavyweight Championship, right here in Amber Beach!"

The crowd cheered loudly and started a spirited chant for Koda.

"Now before we begin tonight's proceedings, I'd like to welcome a very special guest!" Carl announced, stepping out of the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have actual royalty in attendance tonight. Please give it up for the heir to the throne of Zandar, Prince Phillipe III!"

The crowd screamed out greetings at which Phillipe stood up and waved. He hadn't come to get this kind of praise, but he was used to it by now, and it did mean he and his party got the best seats in the house for Koda's big moment. Carl just smiled as he turned towards him.

"So, I see you've got your colours pinned to your chest." Carl teased him, gesturing to his t-shirt. Phillipe rarely went anywhere in anything other than a suit, but Kendall wasn't to be denied on this occasion. "No need to ask who you're cheering on in the main event."

"Absolutely not, I'm pulling for Koda to take the Deer Hunter down and bring the title home to Amber Beach!" Phillipe called out, before leading the crowd in a Koda chant. Carl drew his attention back to him.

"Well, Your Highness, I was wondering if you could do us the honour of getting us started?" Carl asked him.

"It would be my pleasure!" Phillipe replied. "Ladies and gentlemen, let tonight's entertainment BEGIN!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, your opening contest is scheduled for one fall, and is a tornado tag team match. Please welcome, the Kollosal Koallition!"

With that, the music kicked in again and the first team marched out to the ring.


	8. The Championship

The light dissipated and Wrench found himself in a bright, sophisticated and most of all CLEAN ship, something way beyond his wildest dreams! While Sledge DID have some of his monsters clean the ship, being prisoners they weren't exactly the most motivated workforce and since they were the ones that had to live in the filth Sledge never cared enough to 'motivate' them to do any better! Here though, everything was bright, it was shiny, and it looked new!

"Welcome to the Warrior Dome!" Cosmo declared, panning his arm around the ship. "Everything here is state-of-the-art! No expense is spared to make our show THE entertainment event of the galaxy!"

"This is amazing! This is nothing like my old ship!" Wrench said, shuffling around and looking at everything. There were no blown lightbulbs, no broken switches, no leaks in the pipework...hell, even the floors actually sounded like metal as his feet stepped on them instead of years worth of encrusted rust and filth. He saw one blown bulb, but before he could even mention it, a blue and black creature with a conical hat almost knocked him over as it rushed to fix it. He looked to Cosmo Royale.

"Don't mind the Kudabots. They take care of most of the routine maintenance around here." Cosmo told him.

"They...they do?" Wrench asked him. Much of what Wrench did on Sledge's ship was just keeping the damned thing from falling apart! Between Sledge's lack of regard for Wrench's workload, his obsession with his own objectives and his reluctance to allow Wrench to requisition much beyond any basic materials, forcing him to re-use whatever was already on the ship whenever possible meant that Wrench didn't have the time he wanted to spend on his truly exceptional engineering projects and instead spent more time figuring out what needed to be replaced and what needed to be repaired and what was beyond saving in order to make sure everyone onboard was able to survive.

"Oh heavens yes, you have FAR too much important work do." Cosmo told him, taking Wrench by the shoulders and staring straight into his face. "Tell me Wrench, do you have dreams?"

"Well..."

"I know you do Wrench, that's what I like about you! That's why I want you on my team! You're a dreamer aren't you? I can tell, you're a dreamer!" Cosmo said enthusiastically, getting rather theatrical with his tone and his gestures. "We're two of a kind on that respect Wrench. While others just stare at stars you're the kind that says 'damn it all, why do they have to be up there?' and just reaches out and takes them for yourself aren't you?"

Wrench started to stammer an answer, but Cosmo grabbed him and took him along the corridor.

"There's a lab there, all the latest equipment. Oh, those are locker rooms; you don't need to worry too much about them. In fact I'd stay well clear if I were you. Warriors are such uncouth and direct types. Not exactly intellectuals like you and me am I right?" Cosmo continued. "There's an infirmary down that way...not that you'll have much need for that right?" Cosmo rushed out, tapping Wrench's armoured hull. "Yet another thing we have in common. We see a weakness, we see something that isn't up to snuff and we just get rid of it don't we! Perhaps you take it a little further than I do, but don't let it be said I object to someone who's into self-improvement...excuse me!"

Cosmo pulled out a phone and started to talk on it, giving Wrench a chance to look around the immediate vicinity on his own for a bit. Cosmo did seem a lot more of an intellectual than Sledge, or Snide...perhaps Heckyl was the closest to him, but his insanity made his logic extremely hard to follow. Cosmo seemed to be a lot more of a thinker. It was pretty clear he was quite slick, maybe a little slimy but he didn't seem to be too dangerous.

"You've got the paperwork have you?" Cosmo asked. "Splendid! Yes...yes of COURSE I'll get Galvanax to do a personal appearance at the signing! What's that? Oh, no it most definitely been a pleasure! Call me when the deal is done!"

He hung up and turned back to Wrench.

"Now, where were we?" He asked. "Ah yes, we're both dreamers! Did you know when I took on this show it was only broadcast for free on three filtration systems? Now under my guiding hand Galaxy Warriors has crushed every other programme on every network for the last 5,831 straight weeks?"

"Uh..."

"Of COURSE you did? Who am I talking to? Not some mush-brain who hits the gym and the roids way too much am I right? Now, come this way!" Cosmo told him, leading him on his tour.

At the arena in Amber Beach, Koda was getting ready for his match. The night had gone over well, and there was a lot of buzz. Hearing the reaction for the penultimate match was both a blessing and a curse. The crowd was on a high, and that meant they were amped up, but that also meant their expectations were high. One of the runners gestured to Koda.

"Alright, you're up!" He told him. "Break a leg big guy!"

Koda made his way to the curtain, and blocked out all the other distractions. The world seemed to go silent and all he could hear was his own breathing as he bounced on the spot waiting for his cue.

"Your challenger, weighing in tonight at 234 pounds, from right here in Amber Beach, KODA!" The Ring Announcer called out. Koda made his way down to the ring, where Jack was already standing waiting for him. He had the title belt draped over his shoulder and stared at Koda with focused eyes, like the hunter of his namesake just waiting to take the shot. As made his way to the ring, the crowd was an ocean of cheers and fists pumping in the air in support. Koda climbed up onto the apron and into the ring, making his way out into the middle, standing chest-to-chest with Jack. The referee took the belt from Jack, holding it aloft to a massive cheer to remind the crowd what was on the line. Their eyes never strayed from each other as the two men glared at each other. The 'rules' of the match were simple. The referee was only there to log a pinfall, submission or to call for a stoppage if one competitor was no longer able to continue. Other than that, everything in a streetfight was considered fair game.

As the bell rang, Jack shoved Koda with an arrogant look on his face. Koda demonstrated his strength by shoving Jack back, causing him to stumble into the ropes. Jack came back and locked up with him, at which the two men struggled for position. Koda broke the hold by hitting Jack in the face with his forearm, but Jack went right back to the hold.

"What the hell was that Koda?" Jack asked him.

"I hit..."

"This is big Koda, you need to bring it!" Jack told him. Koda hit Jack again, but Jack just looked irritated. He grabbed Koda running him into the corner and holding him there.

"For fuck's sake Koda, I'm not made of glass!" Jack reprimanded him. Jack brought his hand back, and in an open-handed slap, or 'chop' as they called it, struck Koda straight in the chest. It went off like a gunshot. Koda looked stunned, and felt his breath leave him. It felt almost like one of the monsters he'd been fighting all year. The sound was so sickening the first five rows of the audience all cringed hearing it as Koda's chest went bright red. Koda looked back to Jack as he hit a forearm to the Blue Ranger's face. Now he understood, Jack had told him to take his lead from him. He was letting Koda know how stiff to work the match. In response, Koda took him at his word, throwing Jack into the corner, returning the favour with a chop of his own. Seeing the faintest hint of a smirk on Jack's face, Koda knew he was acknowledging the work, and grabbed Jack, launching him high into the air to a huge reaction from the crowd. Now, the match was on, and Koda was in control!

Back on the Battle Dome, Wrench was following Cosmo on his tour, appreciating the mod-cons of his new workplace. Cosmo brought him to one of the main engineering areas.

"Now this is where you're likely to be spending most of your days! I know everyone watches for those meat-heads on the screen, but this is where the REAL magic happens am I right?" Cosmo asked. "Ah, here are some of your colleagues now! This is our chief engineer Mick! Mick, come and say hello to our new intern!"

"Hello!" The alien said, waving in a rather animate manner, before looking to Cosmo Royale. "Ah, Mr Royale, I wanted to talk to you about the last broadcast. A number of our buzz-cams had difficulty..."

"Yes, the picture quality wasn't exactly HD now was it?" Cosmo asked him. "What's up with that?"

"You...held the fight inside a volcano." Mick responded. "You never told me the buzz-cams would need to go into a volcano. They were never designed to withstand those kinds of temperatures."

"Well, why don't you do something about that?" Cosmo asked him. "Wrap them in...something."

"Or maybe we could not hold fights inside volcanoes?" Mick suggested. Cosmo put his arm around him.

"Do you have any idea what the figures were like for that? I had a rating's bump of seventeen points my boy! SEVENTEEN POINTS!" Cosmo told him. "Don't you think that's worth it?"

"Um...I guess I could..."

"Oh, I'm sure you could think of something...in fact, let's see if the new boy can come up with something shall we?" Cosmo said as his phone started ringing again. "Let's see what happens when you two get your heads together!"

He walked away, at which Mick gestured Wrench to follow him to a desk. There, he found a few small devices that looked like they had almost completely been burned up. Mick just sighed.

"So, you're the new guy?" Mick asked him.

"I am." Wrench stated, inspecting the cameras. A red robot came over, bringing some tools with him. "Redbot, this is...um...Wrench isn't it? He's a new intern!"

"Intern? Suffering circuits, you poor thing!" Redbot said as he looked to the new arrival. "Where did they pick you up?"

"Um...Cosmo picked me up from Earth." Wrench told them.

"Cosmo?" Mick asked, looking at him curiously. "He went with the goons to pick you up?"

"Uh...he went himself actually." Wrench answered. Redbot and Mick both looked at each other completely baffled.

"So...to clarify...COSMO made you come here?" Mick asked him. Wrench just shrugged.

"It was a pretty pleasant trip. His teleporter's a lot better than Sledge's drop ships." Wrench stated. "It makes me wish I'd applied sooner."

"Applied?" Mick asked.

"You mean...you came here...by CHOICE?" Redbot asked. Wrench thought this was a rather odd thing to say, and was about to ask about it but Cosmo returned.

"I don't care if you think the sale was ethical, it was perfectly legal!" Cosmo said on the phone. "Well, it's not MY fault you sold 53 percent of the rights...no, I DIDN'T buy it with YOUR money, I bought it with...well as majority shareholder, I lowered the stock price for a quick sale...It's not my fault your lawyer is an idiot! Well, you're welcome to sue but that'll just drive you even further into the poorhouse now don't call me again dad!"

Cosmo hung up and then fist-pumped.

"YES!" He screamed in delight as he started dancing. "You are now looking at the sole owner of the entire Galaxy Warriors franchise! So, have you fixed those cameras yet?"

"Um...not really..."

"Well, no matter you can work on it tomorrow! Come, I'll show you to your quarters!" Cosmo said as he led Wrench away.

Back at the arena, Jack had taken control after a miscue from Koda. When the Blue Ranger had rushed him, Jack had grabbed Koda's waist band and fallen away, driving Koda face-first into the ring-post. Koda had performed an admirable blade-job to sell the injury, creating some convincing blood flow. Jack had brought him back inside the ring, and covered him, only for Koda to kick out. Jack vented his frustration, pounding on the mat and arguing with the referee, screaming at him for not counting faster.

Koda grabbed Jack from behind and went for a throw, but Jack managed to slip it and respond with a throw of his own, bridging backwards and driving his shoulders and head into the mat. Keeping his grip, he rolled through and hit the move again, then a third time! On the fourth, he released, causing Koda to flip clean across the other side of the ring. He staggered into the ropes to catch his breath, but as he did so he caught some chants from the crowd, chants of support for HIM! Although their support was overwhelmingly for Koda, there were chants of appreciation for his skill. Jack waited until Koda was back on his feet in the corner, before running at him. Koda though rushed out to meet him, taking him clean off his feet with a clothesline that looked like it was about to decapitate him.

"This is awesome!" The crowd started to chant, interspersed with claps. Koda went for the cover on Jack, but "The Deer Hunter" kicked out, all to a huge reaction. Koda was on his knees with a look of desperation on his face. To the crowd, it looked like he didn't know what more he had to do to end the match and put his former friend down for the three count. Koda went to a corner, where there was a chair laying on the floor, and picked it up.

He walked towards Jack, intimating he was about to hit him, but he paused. He looked to Jack with a look of doubt on his face. The moment's distraction was all Jack needed to lunge forward, shoving Koda into the corner, where he crushed the referee against the turnbuckles. The referee hit the mat and stopped moving. That was the cue; Koda knew what was coming next. As he came out of the corner, Jack was on his feet and kicked him in the midsection to double him over, then shoved Koda's head between his legs, before lifting him up.

Jack looked for the chair and moved towards it, preparing to hit the piledriver onto the chair, a move that already had the crowd screaming. Koda started to kick his legs, until Jack couldn't hold him, and had to put him down. Koda straightened up, carrying Jack on his back. With a huge, savage yell, just as Jack had told him, Koda swung him down, slamming him into the mat hard, before collapsing on top of him.

The crowd started to chant the count, but with the referee down, there was no one to log the pin! There was a bit of a commotion as Carl ran out of the back, down the ramp to the ring and slid under the ropes. Koda lay back, looking spent, waiting on the ending. He already knew the ending.

"1"

Carl was there to take the count; he was there as the owner and authority figure of the company.

"2"

This was it, now Carl was going to refuse to take the count, turning on Koda and siding with...

"3!"

The crowd exploded as Carl got to his feet and signalled for the bell. Koda's eyes went wide in complete shock. Everyone in the arena was on their feet and going wild.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Your winner...and NEW Heavyweight Champion, KODA!"

Koda was on his knees, unable to comprehend what had happened. Looking to the front row, he saw his friends all cheering him on. Kendall and Alessandra were in tears. Koda made his way out of the ring to ringside, at which his whole entourage were quickly on top of him, swallowing him up in a mountain of hugs.

In the ring, Jack watched all of this, getting to his knees. He was completely spent, he ached all over, and he barely had a breath left in his body, but seeing Koda at ringside, he nodded in approval. He gestured to timekeeper's table.

"The belt." Jack told them. The timekeeper slid the title to Jack, at which he picked it up, looking at it, running his fingers over it, before rolling out to the floor. He approached Koda, which caused a bit of a stir in the audience. They fell silent for a moment. Was it really over? Jack looked to the belt one last time, before placing it on Koda's shoulder and clapping him. He rolled into the ring, leaving Koda to celebrate his victory. He looked around the arena as something else stared. It was another applause, and another chant.

"You've still got it!" They started chanting, throwing gestures Jack's way. Jack smiled brightly as he heard this. Tears started to run down his face as he looked out on the crowd. He mouthed the words 'Thank you' and returned the applause, before gesturing to the crowd to continue to acknowledge their new champion.

Koda was on cloud nine as he was celebrating with his friends. Security parted the railings, allowing Alessandra to make her way over to him and throw her arms around him, kissing him passionately. Koda held the belt aloft and continued to celebrate with the fans, but as he did, he saw Jack in the ring, taking a knife from the ringside table, and cutting his laces. His smile slipped slightly as he saw Jack pull off his boots and leave them in the ring, before rolling under the ropes and heading to the back. The crowd were far too involved in the celebration to notice. Koda pushed his way through the crowd, heading for the back.

When he got there, the other wrestlers were giving Jack a standing ovation. They congratulated both of them on a great match, but for once Koda wasn't concerned with their praise. He caught up to Jack.

"Jack...why...why I win?" Koda asked him.

"We wanted the reaction to be real." Jack told him. "That out there, that's why we did this."

"Jack, you...you leave boots." Koda stated. He knew what this meant. Traditionally when a wrestler left their boots in the ring, it was symbolic of them announcing their retirement. Jack could see Koda was on the verge of tears, and he just sighed.

"Kid, we all have to go sometime." Jack told him. "I've been a novelty act for years. I've not had a match like that in over a decade! I just wanted to make sure I went out the right way. I knew you could handle it."

Koda couldn't bring himself to say anything. Jack smiled.

"Kid, you'll see me again real soon. Carl's taking me on as a trainer." Jack told him. "Now listen up, because there's one last piece of advice I want to give you."

He pointed to the belt on Koda's shoulder.

"Treat that with respect, treat it as the responsibility it is...but NEVER let it define you. Don't let it go to your head." Jack told him. "If you're not enough of a man without it, you'll never be enough with it. I know I'm leaving this in good hands. Do me proud kid."

With that, Jack headed to his dressing room to get changed, while Koda just stood, tears starting to run down his face. He was sad to see Jack bow out, but more than anything he was proud that Jack had given him the legacy that he valued so highly.


	9. An Unwelcome Familiar Face

The following morning, the sun rose over Amber Beach much like any other day. With the exception of Sledge's ship flying over the city, the day before had been relatively quiet thanks to the whole Ranger battle taking place in the battle. It was just as well, given Heckyl's assertion as to Badussa's reputation for destroying whole galaxies; it was a blessing that he hadn't gotten as far as the city before the battle.

They knew that now Sledge had his ship in orbit, it wouldn't be long before he made his next move, whatever that happened to be.

Tyler, Shelby and James were taking the time to enjoy an early morning run. Now that they had all ten Energems, albeit without having a Silver Ranger yet, and since they now knew where Sledge's ship was, there was no reason for him to leave again. Tyler was glad to have his dad back, and he was overjoyed to be able to spend some time with him at long last.

Amber Beach was indeed a beautiful place to live. While it was developed as a city, the local council was determined to preserving its public parks and beauty spots. The streets, when not littered with the debris caused by Ranger battle damage were always clean thanks to the citizens' commitment to keeping Amber Beach a place they could be proud to call home. It made an early-morning run a very appealing option for exercise, and also for some much-needed catch-up time between Tyler and his dad.

"That place there serves THE best sushi!" Tyler told his dad as they went past. "Oh, and that deli over there, you just HAVE to try their chorizo!"

"I'm sure we'll get a chance to try out a lot of it." James said with a smile as they continued on their run. "Once we've dealt with Sledge, we'll have a lot of time on our hands. I might even pluck up the courage to go and see your mom."

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Tyler asked him.

"Well, it'll sting for sure, but I think I've just about come to terms with the fact she's re-married..."

"I think Tyler was thinking more about the fact you look exactly the same as you did on the day you disappeared." Shelby clarified. "I mean...how do we even explain that?"

"Clean living?" James offered weakly. James and Shelby looked to each other and then back to him. This really didn't sound like much of a plan.

"What in the HELL is that?" They heard someone yelling. They forgot about what they were doing and headed off to see what the disturbance it was. They were all a little paranoid that it would be Sledge's final push. When they got there though, they were almost disappointed to find some workmen gathered around a junction box.

"We really need to stop assuming everything is Sledge." Shelby grumbled as they turned to head away.

"I'll tell you what that is...that's a dinosaur egg!" One of them called out. All three of them stopped in their tracks and started to head back, a little more interested in what was happening.

"Oh really, what makes you think that Cliff?" One of them asked.

"Well, there's the fact it's...egg shaped! And it's...BIG! Have you seen an egg that size Ollie?" The first once asked.

"Yeah, it's also green and glowing!" Ollie replied. "It's probably some prank from the local college kids!"

"Um...sorry to interrupt, but I overheard something about a dinosaur egg?" Tyler said, interrupting them.

"Who are you kid?" Cliff asked.

"My name's Tyler Navarro, I work at the Amber Beach Museum." He stated. "These are my colleagues, Shelby Watkins and James Navarro."

"You're both Navarro?" Ollie asked. "What are you brothers?"

"Uh...something like that." James stated. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Be my guest." Cliff responded, gesturing inside. James knelt down, taking a close look. It did look like it was an egg of some description, but it certainly didn't look like any dinosaur egg he recognised. Dinosaur eggs were extremely uncommon, mainly because being fragile they had a habit of having been broken over the years, but they did exist. This egg was green and yellow, and was glowing with an unnatural light. "So...you know what it is?"

"Uh...yes...this is definitely something interesting." James told him. "If I'm not mistaken it's a...um..."

"Viridicerritulusaurus!" Shelby rushed out. Tyler and James looked to her, before looking at Cliff.

"Definitely." James said. "We'll more than happily take it off your hands..."

"Not so fast!" Cliff called out as James was about to take the egg. "I found that, don't I get some kind of credit or something?"

"Uh...yeah! Sure you do!" Tyler said, rummaging around in his pockets. He found a receipt and a pen, handing them over. "Just write down your name and we'll make sure you're named on the plaque."

"SWEET!" Cliff said, scribbling down his name, before handing it back. "I...put my number on there too! Let me know when it's on display will you?"

"You know we will!" Tyler answered as Cliff went off with a skip in his step. Ollie seemed to be looking a little unconvinced though. Tyler just stared at him.

"Um...do you want to be given credit as well?" He asked.

"My supervisor's a massive dork; frankly I don't care what that is or what you plan to do with it." He responded. "I just want it gone. I've got a lot of customers that want their cable back!"

"No problem." James said, taking off his jacket and taking the egg, wrapping it up carefully. As Ollie left, Tyler looked to Shelby.

"Viridicerritulusaurus?" He asked.

"It...sounds like a dinosaur." She offered. "OK, it means green weird lizard."

Tyler and his dad just grinned at her.

"Oh yeah, big surprise, the girl who's obsessed with dinosaurs knows a little Latin!" She replied, grabbing the egg. "I think the one thing we can agree on is this is NOT a dinosaur egg! What do you say we get this back to Dr Morgan to see if we can figure out what it is?"

"Probably a good idea." Tyler conceded as they took the egg and left before the workmen came back to ask any more questions.

Up on Sledge's ship, Sledge was overseeing the preparations for his wedding. Snide came into the room, stepping over a vivik who was rolling out a red carpet for the aisle.

"I can't believe what a dump this place has become." Sledge mused. "I thought I left you in charge!"

"To be fair I wasn't in control ALL the time." Snide reminded him. "Besides, just think, soon those eggs of yours will hatch, and all of the Earth will be doomed!"

"The Rangers may have four Megazords, but we have Greenzillas, and only two of those Megazords could fly last time I checked!" Snide laughed out loud. "No matter which Greenzillas they face, they'll have to sacrifice at least some of the globe! The only way to get them to stop will be for them to turn their Energems over to me!"

"Even if they take out one or two of those Greenzillas, they won't be able to take them all out!" Snide cackled as he agreed. "The best part is, if we force them to hand over the Energems...we can leave the Greenzillas to destroy the world anyway!"

"Your dedication to chaos and carnage is unsettling, but I like it!" Sledge stated. "Now go keep track of those eggs! For some reason I can't find that useless tin can Wrench anywhere!"

As Snide left, Poisandra came in, bounding around gleefully. She was overjoyed that after millions of years her wedding was finally only hours away!

"I love it, love it, LOVE IT!" She screeched in joy, hugging her future husband tightly. "My wedding ring is just beautiful!"

She looked to the ring on her finger, a simple silver mounting, but most importantly housing the Dark Energem. Sledge had always promised Poisandra that he would allow her to take the Energem of her choosing to be her wedding ring, and since it was the only one they had before the ceremony, she had opted for the Dark Energem. Her eyes sparkled in delight as she admired it.

"The Dark Energem looks great on you my beautiful psychopath." Sledge said sweetly as he took the ring from her finger, much to her disappointment. "But remember, its bad luck to wear your ring before the ceremony!"

"Snide is going to be so angry when he realises you're giving it to me!" She giggled.

"Don't worry about him." Sledge assured her. "He's not going to be around much longer! Now, where the blazes is Wrench? I wanted him to do something about these monitors..."

"Oh, he's not here." Poisandra told him.

"Well, I can see that." Sledge responded. "But where is he?"

"Oh, he quit." She told him.

"He did WHAT?" Sledge roared. Poisandra just started rummaging around, finding a letter.

"I found this in the book when I was having the Dark Energem mounted." She told him. "Wrench handed in his notice. He says he's pursuing other career options."

"That ungrateful rust bucket!" Sledge yelled, reading the note. He was furious, but reading it over, he couldn't bring himself to declare vengeance. It was deeply rooted into his psyche that a contract was a contract, a deal was a deal. His career as a Bounty Hunter largely hinged on his reputation in honouring his word. As much as he'd been sneaky about it, Wrench technically HAD handed in the notice of termination of his contract. "No matter, I'm sure I can pick up another mechanic somewhere. In the meantime, you should go and get changed."

He grabbed her, pulling her in close.

"In a few short hours, you'll make me the happiest man in the universe!" He told her.

Over in the museum, Tyler was in the back, getting ready for the day ahead with the others. While they did have a lot to worry about with Sledge's ship being back to full power, the rest of the world sadly was not considerate enough to stand still.

James, Shelby and Tyler all came up from the lab. James was wearing coveralls, while Tyler and Shelby were dressed for work in the restaurant and the museum floor respectively.

"I can't believe the only position Dr Morgan had for me was a janitor!" James grumbled. "I have to be probably the most insanely overqualified museum janitor on the planet."

"None of the rest of us were exactly shouting 'yay party' when we got our first jobs." Shelby stated. Tyler just shrugged.

"Speak for yourself; I thought being a bus boy was great fun!" He commented. Shelby rolled her eyes, but pulled him in, kissing him softly. One of the things that she loved about Tyler was the fact he could be enthusiastic about practically ANYTHING. She'd once caught him doing a dance when a vending machine gave him two candy bars instead of one!

"Has Dr Morgan figured out what that egg thing is?" Ivan asked him, interrupting the moment. Tyler just shrugged.

"The only thing she verified was that it's alive." Tyler told them. "She even said it may not be from Earth."

"Maybe that's why Heckyl said we had to get off the planet." Shelby reminded them. "Maybe it has something to do with whatever's in that egg."

"Well, you could sit in here and wonder about it." Allison sighed as she sprayed cream on top of a Sundae. "Or you could always ask him when you serve him his Sundae."

"Heckyl's HERE?" Shelby yelped as they all rushed to the hatch, seeing the bizarre alien sitting by a table. Although he was sitting by himself, the table was full. It looked like he had ordered every single item on the menu! He was picking between the dishes, taking little bites of each.

"Hmm...not quite sure about this Caesar salad." He commented to himself, wrinkling his face as the Rangers approached, not even noticing their presence. Shelby cleared her throat.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler demanded in a low hiss.

"Well, I was in the neighbourhood and I thought, I'm not going to be around much longer so maybe I should see what's good in this place. I haven't had a chance to try most of it." Heckyl told them. "Oh...that would be mine by the way!"

Allison slid the Sundae onto his table cautiously, but keeping back behind Chase. Although Heckyl hadn't made any moves before now, she still remembered the last time he was in the cafe hadn't been anything like this friendly.

"We mean it Heckyl, what are you doing here?" Chase demanded a little more forcefully. Heckyl picked up a spoon.

"Well, right now I'm going to have this lovely Sundae...then I have a very full day planned." Heckyl stated. "I know it's not good for me, but a man should be able to enjoy his last meal right?"

Ivan grabbed the spoon, wrenching it from Heckyl's hand. The bizarre alien just sighed.

"I'm trying to eat..."

"You'll be WEARING it if you don't tell us what you know!" Riley stated. "What do you mean by your 'last meal'?"

"Oh...things are about to hatch shall we say that really don't spell out a very good day for all involved." Heckyl stated. "Can I have my spoon back please?"

"Hatch...you mean this has something to do with that egg we found?" James asked him. Heckyl just looked to the Aqua Ranger.

"If you must know, that egg is going to hatch into a Greenzilla monster." Heckyl told them. "That thing shared a supermax block with me. I'm telling you, watching one of those things laying is not for the faint of heart, or the weak of stomach."

"Greenzilla, like that thing Sledge unleashed the last time?" Tyler asked him.

"We've fought one before and we were victorious!" Ivan told him.

"Well, have you fought SIX?" Heckyl asked them. "I saw them when Sledge took them. He had six eggs. He made a bargain with Snide; he would keep things ticking here while he planted them all over the globe. Amber Beach, New York, Beijing, Honolulu, Hiroshima and Zandar."

"ZANDAR!" Ivan gasped, hearing that his home nation was going to be the site of one of the attacks. Heckyl got up from the table.

"Once they hatch, the world is going to be crushed in a matter of hours." Heckyl told them as he got up, sweeping his coat off the back of his chair and putting it on. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do. Enjoy the last day of your lives. I know I will."

"Heckyl!" Shelby called after him. He looked back to her. "Maybe you can help us!"

"Let me make this very clear Pink Ranger. I touched the Dark Energem. There's no goodness left in me." Heckyl told her.

"But you helped us before. You've split from Snide. He's evil but...you're not!" Shelby pleaded with him. Heckyl just smirked.

"Like I said, enjoy your last day on Earth." Heckyl told them. "Perhaps we'll meet in the afterlife."

With that, he turned and walked out of the restaurant.

"Hey asshole you haven't paid for that!" Allison yelled after him, gesturing to the food. However, no one seemed to notice. "Aw to hell with it! Leanne, close up. Tell Betty and Sarah to meet us downstairs, tell everyone else to go home. Tell them we have...um...a gas leak or something."

With that, the team all rushed into the Dino Lab to tell Kendall what they were up against.

Within half an hour, everyone had assembled in the Dino Lab. Keeper had appeared for what they knew was likely to be the biggest battle to date. Matt, Sarah, Margaret, Alessandra, Leanne, Betty and Allison had also joined them, as much out of their loved ones knowing they were somewhere safe as it was to help in any way they could.

"So this Sledge has five more of these things all over the world?" Betty asked.

"And they're all going to hatch. Today!" Shelby reminded them.

"Good heavens." Phillipe sighed. He noticed the others were staring at him. "What?"

"Good heavens?" Sarah teased him. "Man, he's all classy and regal even when we're all panicking."

"I can't help the way I was brought up!" He protested.

"Whatever, can we focus on the issue at hand?" Kendall asked them. "Now, we have six Greenzilla eggs..."

"YAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" A scream rang out through the cave, causing them all to turn in time to see Allison, who had grabbed a sledgehammer from one of the dig kits and ran full-pelt across the room. She slammed the hammer down, splattering the egg all over the immediate vicinity. As the others just stared at her, she smiled and levelled the sledgehammer over her shoulders.

"If you destroy an egg before it hatches, the animal inside dies. Biology 101." She said with a smile. "Now at least I get to say I've destroyed one of the monsters!"

"I have never been more in love with you than at this very moment!" Chase said, grabbing her and kissing her cheek. Allison just grinned.

"Well that still leaves us with five Greenzilla eggs to worry about." Kendall stated. Just then, her alarms started going off. "Damn it, we're out of time, they're hatching!"

"Even if we can get the Megazords out there, we only have four!" James reminded them. "We have to make a choice!"

"We have to save Zandar!" Phillipe told them. "I know it's selfish..."

"No, we completely understand." Chase answered. "But that still leaves four cities and only three Megazords. How do we Sophie's Choice the planet?"

"Uh...guys? You might want to look at this!" Sarah commented. They all rushed to look at the screen showing them the Greenzilla starting to grow to attack New York. In the distance, they could see something coming into view. "That's the Spinozord!"

"And it looks like he brought a couple of friends." Shelby stated, looking to see it starting to form up into a Megazord. "Is that an...Arcelon Zord and an Oviaptor Zord?"*

"You mean the giant turtle and the one that looks like it's ripping off my zord?" Riley asked as they formed up. The Oviaptor's tail opened up, giving it kind of an energy crossbow weapon, and the Arcelon Zord's shell started spinning giving it a buzz-saw four up close.

"What the hell is going on? Where did they come from?" Kendall asked. "Who's doing this?"

"For now does it matter? We have SOMEONE taking one of those cities!" Chase called out. "That means we can concentrate on the others!"

"Right...um...let me think...Hawaii's on the way to Japan, that means we should drop someone in Beijing on the way to Zandar." Kendall reasoned out, trying to weigh up the options. "Phillipe, you and Ivan take Zandar. I know it'd be pointless trying to convince you to go anywhere else."

"Take the Parazord too." Chase told them. "It should give you some long-range firepower. Not to mention...you know...a second arm."

"Keeper and I will direct things from here. Koda, you and Riley take the Plesiocharge Megazord and the Raptor zord to Hiroshima." She told them.

"We'll take the Megazord to Honolulu." Tyler said, gesturing to himself, James and Shelby. "Dad, it looks like we finally get to fight together."

"I guess that leaves me with Titanozord in Beijing." Chase said with a shrug. "I always wanted to see the Great Wall."

"Actually Beijing is about fifty miles from the Great Wall." Kendall told him regretfully. Chase just sighed.

"Son of a bitch!" He muttered. "Alright fine!"

"Rangers, this will be the greatest battle you will ever face!" Keeper told them, holding his staff aloft. "Together, we must fight to survive, and purge this evil from our planet!"

"Rangers forever!" They all called out as they all morphed and ran for their designated duties. Kendall went to her workstation, pulling off her helmet.

Betty came across to Allison, who was still admiring her handiwork.

"That's one way to make an omelette!" She commented.

"If you like that you should see how I make Jambalaya!" She chuckled, before skipping off to see if there was some way she could help. She knew her skill set did limit the contributions she could make to the team, but this was once victory that was all hers!

 **A/N:** The Arcelon and Oviaptor are zords that ONLY appeared in the toyline, and while I normally don't delve into zords that weren't on the show, since the Rangers had the other zords, I ended up without much choice. Hope you liked their appearance.


	10. Greenzilla Worldwide

On Sledge's ship, Snide was wandering the ship, keeping out of the way as preparations continued for the wedding. By now, the wedding was only moments away, but none of that concerned him. All that concerned him was what he had overheard.

Sledge, although intelligent, was not as sneaky as he thought he was. Snide wasn't one for being particularly sneaky, but he had been connected to Heckyl for long enough to know that you learned a lot about people's true motives if you waited just outside the door for a moment after leaving the room. As much as he suspected it was coming anyway, being the kind of creature that rarely trusted anyone anyway and who crossed those who trusted him so regularly he expected it of them in return, but he had heard Sledge say that he 'wasn't going to be around much longer'.

The only question he had was how Sledge intended to do it. With the Dark Energem, Sledge could probably overpower him in a direct conflict, but on the ship, he doubted even Sledge would be reckless enough to start firing off full-powered blasts that would risk killing everyone on board. In a direct conflict, he wasn't sure which of the two of them would come out on top, but the issue would be which side the remaining monsters would support. No, it seemed unlikely that he would start anything on his ship, that left one option. Sometime soon Sledge would probably find a reason to send him to Earth.

There were a couple of options he could foresee, none of them particularly good. He could send him down in the hopes that the Greenzillas attacking the Earth would bring him down too. If the Greenzillas were in trouble, perhaps Sledge would send him to 'support' them, all in the hopes that he would end up getting caught in the crossfire. Perhaps he would leave him there in the aftermath, when all else failed just bombard the planet and pick the Energems from what was left. Perhaps...perhaps he'd just leave him there and go on his way, leaving Snide stranded. In any event, it seemed likely that soon he would try and convince him to go to Earth; all he needed to do was figure out a way to ensure that he survived when he did.

"Snide, there you are!" Fury said as he came towards him. "You're needed on the Bridge!"

"The wedding doesn't interest me!" Snide told him.

"Well it better start interesting you! You'll be leading the ceremony!" Fury told him.

"What?" Snide asked. "Since when?"

"Since that rust-bucket Wrench decided to abandon ship! I'd have done it, but I'm already the Best Man!" Fury told him, thrusting the book into his hands. "I've put the vows in there, just read them out and hand Poisandra the ring, think you can handle that?"

With that, Fury left. Snide just groaned and followed him towards the Bridge.

Back at the Ranger Base, Kendall and her team were all gathered around, keeping track of the battles the Rangers would face. Keeping track of a Megazord battle was hard enough, but knowing they would have to keep track of five simultaneously they had opted to split things up as much as possible. The other complication was the Spinocharge Megazord. They still had no idea where it had come from or who was piloting it. All they knew was that right now, it was battling the Greenzilla in New York, freeing the Rangers to deal with the other four. Unfortunately as Kendall was the only one that really understood how the tactical system worked, she was the one left to keep track of four battles at once.

"How's our mystery friend doing?" Tyler called out as he took on his battle in Honolulu.

"The Spinocharge Megazord is holding its own. I might not know who jacked it, but I'll say this much, Sarah did a good job on it."

"Uh...thanks...I think?" Sarah answered. "I can't claim credit for the other two, just the Spinozord...and that wasn't even working when we left it!"

"Man this thing is clunky!" Chase said as he continued his battle in Beijing.

"It's meant to work with all the available chargers." Kendall reminded him. "Until we can send them..."

"I'm just going to have to tank it! Got it!" Chase responded. "Just do me a favour and hurry it up guys, I'd like to get a few licks in before this thing carves right through to me!"

Matt was standing in the corner of the room, watching with interest as this went on. He was concerned with all his friends, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance; he was concerned for everyone he loved. But right now, seeing Kendall by the computers, moving between screens and checking on how each battle was progressing, he couldn't help but be impressed.

This was where Kendall was truly in her element. Making calculations, analysing the weapons at their disposal, developing strategies on the fly...it was like she was born to do this.

"She really is something isn't she?" Margaret asked him, coming over to where Matt was standing.

"Do you really want to talk about this now?" Matt asked her.

"The way I see it, considering the fact that if things don't go well in a few hours we won't be ABLE to have these conversations, I'd say now is a pretty ideal time to have this conversation." She answered him. "Right now, my fiancé is out there, you think I'm not scared to death?"

"What do you want me to do Margaret?" He asked her. "In case you hadn't noticed, she is kind of busy right now. Now if you can suggest something useful I can do to help, I'm all ears."

"This probably isn't the best way to think right now, but...if things do turn. Think where you'd want to be." She suggested. "I know where I'd like to be if I could."

Matt didn't say anything else; he just went to a rock, sitting down on it, continuing to watch Kendall work.

"Tyler, I know it sounds off, but he's got your arms caught...so try detaching them!" She told him.

"Dr Morgan?" He asked.

"Trust me!" She called out. Tyler did as he was told. The monster had been straining to pull them towards it, but the zords separating from it caused it to stumble. It was only holding onto the triceratops.

"Shelby, full power to your tail drill now!" Kendall instructed her. Shelby channelled her power into the Triceratops, sending its drill into overdrive. The Greenzilla ended up inadvertently pulling the drill into itself! "Good, now reassemble!"

Tyler called the Megazord back together, increasing its power levels once more. The drill was still firmly inside the creature, and with the newfound power, it allowed them to pull it through the creature, ripping it open with a huge scream.

"The wound, right there, you can see its brain!" Kendall yelled. "Full power to the hammer blow, right there! DO IT NOW!"

James summoned up the Dino Super Sabre, loading the Dino Chargers into it.

"This is for everything your boss ever took from me!" James roared. "Ankylo Hammer, FINAL STRIKE!"

With that, they brought the hammer down, straight through into the creature's brain. It exploded in a huge blast that rocked their Megazord, but when all was said and done and the smoke cleared, they were the last ones left standing!

"Monster Extinct!" James called out.

"Hey, we need to wait on a lift, but we can lend a hand." Tyler said, taking their three chargers from his father. "Chase, it's not everything, but here are some more chargers!"

He threw them as hard as he could, at which they disappeared. Chase smiled as the appeared in a flash of light inside the Titanozord.

"Not a moment too soon mate!" He answered. "Alright you overgrown brussel sprout! Let's dance!"

Up on Sledge's ship, the moment Poisandra had been waiting for 65 million years had finally come. Sledge stood before the "altar", in truth the Command Console of his ship, with a white jacket and top hat carelessly fitted over his armour. He rarely took it off as a force of habit, generally only taking it off in the safety of his own bedchambers which were security locked from the inside. He looked thoroughly ridiculous, but he knew his Poisandra would appreciate the effort.

"Everything is ready." Fury assured him. Now, strike up the music Snide!"

Snide just sighed and hit the control on the console which controlled the sound system. The wedding march started to play, and the doors opened. Four viviks carried Poisandra into the room on a palanquin, a large bouquet in her hands. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Waiting millions of years for this was worth it!" She stammered out excitedly. "We'll be together forever!"

"Nothing would give me greater joy my little Poisiepoo!" He told her. Snide watched the procession, but the only thing he could think about was that soon Sledge would try to get rid of him. The Dark Energem was in the book, but he couldn't remove it now. He needed a distraction. On this occasion though, fortune smiled upon him.

An alarm went off, and the panic caused the viviks to suddenly drop the palanquin. Poisandra flew from it, at which Sledge ran to try and catch her. They both ended up landing squarely in the middle of the cake.

"This is a disaster!" Poisandra wailed as she wiped cream and tears from her face, thrashing about petulantly. "My perfect day is RUINED!"

"Fury, WHAT'S GOING ON?" Sledge ranted at him as he tried to get up, but slipped and fell on the cream. Fury checked the scanners.

"The Rangers have defeated the Greenzilla monster in Honolulu!" He told Sledge, clearly shocked that they had managed to defeat one of the monsters already. "And the one in Amber Beach is missing!"

"Missing? How can it be missing? It's not a set of cell keys is it?" Sledge stated. "SNIDE!"

"What is it Sledge?" He asked.

"Go to Amber Beach; track down the location of that egg with this." He told him, handing him a scanner. "Find my missing Greenzilla!"

"Of course...partner!" Snide answered, making his way out of the Command Room while Sledge and his cronies tried to salvage what dignity they could from the situation. As he headed for a drop pod, Snide pulled out Poisandra's wedding ring and smiled.

"You won't be leaving me behind without this." Snide stated as he ripped out the Dark Energem and threw the ring aside. "When I get back, we'll see who'll be around much longer!"

Back at the Ranger base, things were getting intense as they waited with baited breath for word from the individual battles.

"Look, the Greenzilla in New York!" Allison called out, pointing to the screen. The Spinocharge Megazord powered up its buzz-saw, slicing through the creature. The Greenzilla feel to its knees and then exploded, heralding its end. "Whoever that is, he's done it!"

"Spinozord pilot, whoever you are, come in!" Kendall called into her communicator. "Spinozord, we could use your help in other...DAMN IT!"

"Did it just...disappear?" Betty asked. Kendall just nodded.

"We could have used all the help we could get." She muttered. "But it's one less Greenzilla, so I'll take it!"

"Make that two!" Phillipe called out as he and Ivan blasted their own Greenzilla repeatedly. He summoned the Dino Superdrive Sabre. "I love the Royal Gardens, but better they get destroyed than my people! Pacha Wrecking Ball, FINAL STRIKE!"

With a huge spinning strike, the Greenzilla monster exploded, destroying the third of the monsters. Phillipe just smiled as he saw his people coming out into the streets to celebrate the monster's end.

"There is no greater feeling than successfully defending one's homeland is there Your Highness?" Ivan asked him. Phillipe just smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Monster Vanquished!" He announced, pulling out their three Dino Chargers. "We'll head for Hiroshima! Chase, here are a few more Dino Chargers for you!"

"Great timing guys! Playing punching bag to one of these things SUCKS!" Chase answered. "If you guys could hurry all this up, that'd be great!"

Meanwhile, outside the museum, Snide was following the signal on his scanner, but was surprised to find himself at the museum. He could remember being bonded with Heckyl and he knew that the Rangers all worked here, but it seemed curious that they would bring the egg here of all places.

The door didn't put up much resistance to someone with his power. He smashed them open, heading inside the museum. He scoffed as he looked around, seeing all the exhibits on display. That was when a thought occurred to him. What if the Rangers hadn't realised what it was when they brought it here? Was it possible they mistook it for an exhibit?

"Stupid humans." He muttered, heading through the museum, coming ever closer to the location marked on it. "Once I find the missing egg, I'll find out why it isn't turning your precious city to rubble!"

Back in the base, the desperation was getting real for the team. They were close to victory, they were down to their last two Greenzillas, but their zords had also been battling a long time. It left them with only the hopes that aid would get to them in time.

In Hiroshima, Riley and Koda were taking heavy hits from their opponent. Only some well-placed slashes from the Raptor Claw kept them from being held fast by the creature's tentacles.

"Power levels are critical." Riley commented. "I appreciate the loan of your Zord Dr Morgan, but I don't think I'm as good a pilot as you with it!"

"Just hold it together Riley; Phillipe and Ivan are on their way." Kendall told him. "How are you holding up Chase?"

"I reckon I've got about another ten minutes tops at this rate!" Chase replied honestly. "If I don't get the last of those chargers, I'm pretty screwed!"

"Chase, don't talk like that!" Allison called out to him. "You are not a coward Chase, that's not the man I love! You are going to fight if you have to get out that damn Megazord and throw stones at it God Damn you!"

"In another few minutes it might just come to that!" Chase told her. "But thanks for the pep talk!"

"We've got the Greenzilla in our sights!" Phillipe told them. "Riley, pump every last ounce of power you have into it the Raptor Claw when I say! We're going to bring a pretty heavy distraction!"

"It better be good!" Riley told him, summoning the Dino Super Drive Sabre.

With a huge roar of jets, the Pteracharge Megazord soared through, peppering the Greenzilla with blasts, before slamming it in the face with the pacha wrecking ball.

"Now's the time Sir Riley!" Ivan yelled at his former Squire. "TAKE THE SHOT!"

"Raptor Claw, Final STRIKE!" Riley screamed as he rammed the claw right through the monster, before pulling it upward through the creature. It exploded, heralding its end. "Monster, EXTINCT!"

Koda took the Dino Chargers from Riley, casting them out.

"Chase, here last chargers!" Koda called out. "Finish it!"

"In the meantime, I think Tyler and the others might just appreciate a lift home." Riley commented. "Phillipe, you guys have less power left. You want to collect them? We can get Chase."

"That sounds like a plan!" Phillipe answered as the two Zord took off.

In Beijing, Chase was blocking as many of the Greenzillas attacks as he could with the Titano Axe. He had been on the defensive pretty much the whole way through the fight. The Titanozord operated on multiple chargers which meant with only a small selection, it wasn't quite able to tip the balance. As the last few chargers appeared in the cockpit though, he smiled.

"Alright, the time for rope-a-dope is over!" Chase stated, shoving the creature back with all the strength he could muster. He loaded the Dino Chargers into his Superdrive Sabre. "We know you can dish it out, but let's see how you take it! Titanozord, Collosal CRUSH!"

The Titano Axe powered up, before Chase brought it down, utterly destroying the creature. He collapsed to his backside in the cockpit, completely exhausted.

"Now that...I do NOT recommend doing every day!" He said breathlessly. "Monster Extinct!"

Back at the museum, Snide was still searching for the egg, but he found himself walking around in circles. Eventually he stopped right in the spot the scanner indicated, before throwing it to the floor in a fit of temper.

"What a useless piece of junk!" He screamed. "I don't see an egg! Yet you say it's right HERE!"

He brought his sword down, utterly destroying the device, but as he did so, the floor cracked. It was then that he got a thought.

His memories of being in the Ranger Base had been erased thanks to Curio carelessly serving up Sting Rage's venom to him and the crew, but it now made sense. The Rangers always fought hard to defend the museum any time a battle strayed too close to there. The Rangers and all their friends worked there.

"Of COURSE!" He screamed. "They've been hiding right under our noses the whole time!"

With that, he started swinging his sword into the floor again and again.

Down in the Dino Lab, Kendall threw off her headset as the others sent up a huge cheer.

"You did it Dr Morgan!" Sarah shrieked, throwing herself into a hug. Kendall was a little taken aback, but did relent and just went with it.

"WE'VE done it!" Kendall corrected her. "All the Greenzillas have been defeated!"

"And once the guys come back, we can figure out how to go and take out Sledge once and for all!" Betty said, grabbing her granddaughter. "You did good Doodlebug!"

The assembled group came into the centre of the room, exchanging enthusiastic hugs, until it came to Kendall facing Matt. They were both going for hugs, but stopped short. Kendall could only find herself staring into Matt's eyes. They were interrupted as dust fell from the roof. They looked up to see that more was coming down. It was quickly followed by rubble, forcing everyone to dive for cover! As the dust cleared, they saw a dark form dropping down from the roof, landing right in the middle of their base.

"Oh...shit!" Allison commented.

"Snide?" Kendall said breathlessly, realising the situation they were in. One of the deadliest enemies they had ever faced was right in front of her, in a room filled with some of the people she cared most about in the world, and her friends were still on the far reaches of the world. Even at full speed it would take them some time to get there.

"So, your base has been under the museum this whole time!" He taunted them. "I hope you like it down here, because pretty soon, I'm going to bury you all down here!"


	11. A Walk On The Wild Snide

The room fell silent as the dust settled and Snide started to look around. This was pretty much the one thing that Kendall had never wanted to happen, the one thing that terrified her more than anything else she could imagine. One of their most dangerous foes was now here, standing right in the centre of their base.

She had always tried not to be too sentimental over things. Things, possessions, places...those were all temporary. She had come into this knowing the day would come when they would all move on, and this place would once more be a simple cave in the ground that just happened to sit under the museum. She had considered at once time once the Ranger battles were over that it would itself be a great exhibit for the museum, and actual cave system running underneath the museum! However, over time many things had occurred that had made this place so much more than just a place of work, than just where she had observed battles and built her weapons.

This place had become as much of a home to the team as it had a base. It was the one place that only they and the people they trusted with their secret knew about. It was a place where they could share their most intimate moments and thoughts and feelings. Just a few feet away was Koda's actual home, the cave he had lived in ever since coming to Amber Beach. When the time came for their most dangerous battle, it was natural that they had brought their loved ones down here. It was a place they felt safe, but now all that was gone.

She cast a glance over into a corner, where Allison had gone to check on Keeper. The ancient alien had been standing almost directly under the hole when the rubble came down, and it looked like a lot of it had hit him. She couldn't tell if he was unconscious, or...she didn't really want to think of the other consequence. Only he knew enough of the full power of the Energems to know what to do once they did get the Dark Energem. He was bleeding from a few wounds, the most troubling of which was the side of his head, which extended most of the way down the left side of his face. Allison cradled his body protectively as she kept an eye on Snide. Kendall turned her attention back to Snide.

Snide strode around the room; looking around judgementally at all they had built down there. His gaze came to rest on the remains of the Greenzilla Egg.

"So, you destroyed the Greenzilla egg!" He snarled as he picked up one of the pieces. Looking around the room, he saw Allison, who was still covered in the goop that would have become a Greenzilla had she not obliterated the egg with a sledgehammer. She gulped as she saw his gaze come to rest on her. He just threw the piece of egg at her. "No matter, I've got something better I can bring back to the ship! Two new Energems!"

Kendall saw him look to the crystal beds, where the Silver Energem was resting. He then turned his attention back to her.

"Once I destroy you, I'll have the Purple AND Silver Energems to add to MY collection!" He told her. He turned sharply, throwing out a pair of power blasts, which destroyed the crystal beds, sending shards flying. Everyone had to protect themselves as the pieces flew everywhere. Kendall saw Betty covering up, deep scratches on her hands bleeding as she tried to protect her face from flying crystals. Kendall got up and ran over to her console, snatching up her helmet.

"I don't think so!" She responded, throwing it at him to distract him as she summoned up her sword and ran to the attack. Snide had threatened everyone she cared about, and had violated the sanctity of her lab. This was her house, and if he wanted to destroy it, then he was going to have to go through her!

In Beijing, Chase was sitting in the Titanozord, catching his breath as he waited for pickup. He saw the Plesiocharge Megazord flying overhead and stood up, stretching out his Zord's arms as it swooped down to pick him up. He breathed a sigh of relief as they headed up into the air.

"Now that...that was a day I would just as soon not repeat." He commented. "How are all you guys doing?"

"Not too bad." Tyler replied through the comm-link. "The zords are damaged, but the self-repair system should deal with the worst of it soon enough."

"It has indeed been quite a day." Ivan mused as he thought about it. "As much as Zandar has changed since my day, I am glad I could protect it one more time."

"I'll just contact the base; let them know we're coming in." Tyler told them. "If we're lucky, they might just prepare a nice welcome home lunch for us!"

"You know what? That sounds just about perfect!" Shelby stated.

"Red Ranger to base, are you reading over?" Tyler asked. He didn't get a reply. "Red Ranger to base, do you read me over?"

"TYLER!" He heard a voice screaming. Allison picked up one of the headsets as she scrambled to avoid the battle going on just feet from her.

"What is that?" Tyler asked. He could only get audio link, the video link to the base didn't seem to be working.

"It's Snide, he found the base!" She screamed at them. "He came looking for the egg! He must have been able to track it!"

"Snide's there?" Chase rushed out in a panic, hearing the fear in his girlfriend's voice. "Allison, you've got to get out of there!"

"That's easier said than done!" She yelled. "Chase, you've got to..."

Suddenly, the communications were cut off. Chase grabbed his console.

"Allison!" He screamed at it. "ALLISON!"

"Snide's in the base?" Shelby gasped.

"We've got to get there, FAST!" Tyler agreed. "Everyone, full throttle!"

Back at the Dino Lab, Kendall struggled against Snide. His skill with a sword was incredible, and his power was beyond anything she had faced so far. He seemed even more powerful than the first time she had faced him when he first showed up all those months ago. Snide drove her back into a shelving unit, and came at her with an overhand, which she only barely managed to dodge, as he sliced through it smashing everything on the unit.

Kendall hit the ground and started to back up away from him as he advanced on her, but then a shot rang out and sparked off his armour. It was quickly followed by another eleven in quick succession. The bullets didn't seem to harm him, but even he was distracted by a slug hitting his armour at high velocity. She looked around to where she could see Margaret ejecting an empty magazine from her Beretta.

"Margaret! Don't..."

"You look like you can use all the help you can get!" Margaret told her, struggling to her feet and taking aim, before opening fire again. "I might not be able to finish him, but I can sure as hell distract him! Even Snide can't ignore a full magazine!"

She emptied a second magazine into him rebounding shots off his chest and off his face plate. Snide screamed in rage as he cast out an energy blast towards her, only for Leanne to rush past and snatch Margaret out of harm's way.

"I'm out!" Margaret told them as Kendall had regained enough composure to return to the fight. "That was my last magazine!"

"Hey ugly!" Sarah called out, running past and lobbing a chemical flask into his face. "Have a free chemical peel!"

He grabbed his face and started screaming as puffs of white smoke rose from his face. Kendall knew that Sarah was gifted in chemistry, and would easily have been able to pick out something that if not deadly to him given his alien physiology would at very least be distinctly unpleasant! Kendall took this opportunity to resume her attack. She managed to get a few telling strikes in while Snide was distracted, but eventually he managed to refocus his efforts on her. He locked blades with her as she drove him into a wall, driving both blades back towards him, trying to drive them right into him.

"You really care about these weaklings, don't you Purple Ranger!" He sneered. "That's a mistake that will cost you!"

He managed to shove Kendall off him, before firing a blast towards Betty. She only just threw herself out the way.

"You will NOT touch my G'MA!" Kendall screamed at him, taking her blaster and opening fire. Snide deflected shots all around, staggering off balance, which allowed Matt to get the drop on him, literally. Matt leapt off a work bench, landing on his back and grappling with the monster.

"I won't hold him for long!" Matt yelled. "Get him now!"

Leanne ran full-pelt at Snide, blurring across the room. Matt let go and threw himself off as she tackled him straight into a rock-face hard enough to shatter it. He got up to his knees, but Leanne kept hammering into his face with hard punches.

"Hiring a vampire? Good call!" Betty complimented Allison as she helped Allison get Keeper to a safe spot. Unfortunately, the advantage Leanne bought them didn't last for long.

Picking up one of Koda's spears, Sledge rammed it through Leanne's abdomen. Her eyes grew wide as he got to his feet, and using the spear, threw her across the room into a rock face, which collapsed on top of her.

"I might have missed your heart, but I can rectify that later!" Snide taunted her, knowing that as she bled out, her strength would weaken. He staggered as Matt came at him, throwing hard haymakers with a rock held in each hand. He grabbed the farmer by the throat, lifting him off the ground.

"Now, this is a spirited effort...shame you don't have the necessary power behind it!" Snide taunted him. "Then again, who does?"

Just then, a figure dropped into the middle of the room. They all looked around to see the new arrival.

"How about me?" Heckyl announced as he fired his power blasts into Snide. The evil alien barely got time to raise a guard, but he was still driven back several feet by the power of Heckyl's blast.

Up on Sledge's ship, they were still waiting on word from Snide's mission on Earth, but as time wore on and Poisandra, who was still pouting over the debacle of her wedding cake, started to get restless. Although he was keen to hear how things were going on Earth, Sledge had shut off all the alarms at her request, and was focused on keeping his fiancée happy. In the end, he decided the only way to do so was to carry on with the ceremony.

Her dress was stained, which she wasn't happy about, but having been cleaned up as much as possible, she was delighted that the ceremony resumed. Without Snide to conduct the ceremony, and with Fury still standing in as Best Man, that meant the job of officiating dropped to the next person down. Which happened to be...

"Are you sure you don't want us to bake a new cake first?" Curio asked his mistress, looking over to the mess in the corner, which some viviks were doing their best to pack ruined crumbs and pastry back together and cover it over with icing. Fury just face-palmed.

"That'll take HOURS!" Fury grumbled.

"Exactly!" Poisandra protested, looking to her friend/pet, patting him on the head. "It's taken me 65 million years to finally drag this one down the aisle; I'm not waiting a minute longer!"

"I don't want to wait another minute either my sweet pudding!" He responded, before glowering at Curio. "Hurry up and get on with it!"

"Yeah, he can get me another cake later!" Poisandra told him, looking lovingly at her beau. "On our extended honeymoon! I think about a million years should be good."

"You want me to give up work for a MILLION YEARS?" He roared. "But...but...all those contracts! I just got sent an offer by Galaxy Warriors to find them new contestants..."

"Now you listen here buster, I've waited 65 million years for this, the least YOU can do is take some time off work!" Poisandra huffed. Sledge just sighed.

"I suppose you're right dear." He answered. "Go ahead."

"Now, do you Poisandra take this man..."

"I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO!" She rushed out, interrupting him as she threw her arms around him. "A million times I DO!"

"And do you Sledge, take this woman to be your awfully dreaded wife?" Curio asked him.

"I do." Sledge replied.

"Then by the power invested in me by you, Poisandra, Fury, this ship, the toaster, the repair bots, the viviks, the Spikeballs, the monster that keeps eating the urinal cakes, the..."

"JUST GET ON WITH IT!" They both snapped at him impatiently.

"Yeah, I want to get to the honeymoon!" Poisandra said suggestively, sliding a hand under Sledge's jacket. He grabbed Curio, lifting him off the ground.

"If you don't want me to turn you back into a couch, just get on with it!" He responded in haste, being eager to get to the extra-marital activities. Curio just gulped.

"I now pronounce you man and wife!" He answered. "You man kiss the bride...though...I'm not ENTIRELY certain how you would manage that."

Poisandra squealed in delight as Sledge picked her up in a bridal carry and a vivik turned on the wedding march once more. They were about to leave, but Poisandra pulled in close.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She asked him. Sledge looked confused for a moment until she held up the fourth finger of her left hand.

"Ah, of course!" He replied, looking to Fury. "Well Best Man, get the ring out the book!"

Fury went to the book and opened it, but found the ring was missing.

"It's gone!" He yelled in panic, expecting Sledge to go ballistic. Poisandra started screaming, seeing her wedding ring was missing, at which Sledge dropped her on the floor and picked up the book, inspecting it closely and shaking it, hoping it would fall out.

"Where is it?" Sledge roared. "Everyone fan out! Search every inch of the ship! No one rests until we find it!"

Back in the museum, Heckyl was keeping Snide busy while the team regrouped. They couldn't believe that he had come to their aid in their time of need. They ducked and took cover as blasts fired all around the lab, wrecking equipment and causing more rock-falls that raised concerns the whole cave was about to come down, dropping the museum right on their heads!

"You've chosen the wrong side Heckyl!" Snide yelled as he launched an attack towards him. Heckyl created an energy shield that just about held the power of his blasts at bay, but they could see the strain on his face from his efforts.

"I can't hold him for long!" He told them. "Kendall, you have to finish him now!"

Kendall loaded her Dino Charger into her sabre, before leaping into the air, aiming to slice Snide clean in two. He saw her coming and re-doubled his efforts with his blast, which send Heckyl and Kendall both tumbling to the floor.

Kendall fought for breath, and she could feel her own blood choking her as Snide came over. She reached for her sabre, but he kicked it away, before grabbing her, throwing her up against a wall, back to her feet. He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground, choking the life from her.

"I had hoped to make you watch, but perhaps it'll be almost as much fun letting you think about what order I'll send them to meet you in." He sneered at her as her face turned beetroot red. "Perhaps I'll send your little G'Ma. Maybe the vampire...or perhaps it'll be the boyfriend. So many choices."

He brought back his sword, preparing to swing it.

"Don't worry; you won't be alone for long!" He taunted her, but before he could swing, he felt something stopping his sword. He looked back, seeing Matt had grabbed hold of the blade.

"I guess the boyfriend has made the choice for me!" He told her, dropping Kendall to the floor, who just started coughing. He tried to pull the sword from Matt's grip, but Matt just held on, powering through the pain as the blade started to cut into him.

Snide swung Matt around, pinning him against the wall, and started to drive the blade slowly towards his throat. Despite the pain, despite the blood running down his forearms from his hands, Matt struggled against the blade, at which Snide was forced to apply his second hand. Further and further, he drove it back towards his throat, aiming to slice his head from his shoulders.

"You know, this heroic nonsense might have impressed her. It's a shame she gets to watch you die!" Snide taunted him. "See how heroes are rewarded!"

"That's my thoughts exactly." Matt replied as a light shone in his eyes. Snide looked down in shock as the sword was actually starting to get driven back towards him! Energy started to swirl around Matt as he tensed up every muscle. By the time he had enough room, Matt reared back his head and drove it forward into a hard head butt, but by the time it connected, it was more than just flesh and bone that hit Snide.

"What the...!" Allison gasped.

"Oh man, that is AWESOME!" Sarah gasped, grinning brightly. "I so want one of those suits!"

All of the others looked on in surprise to see standing before them, the new Silver Ranger!

Silver...STRIKE!" Matt called out as he powered up his fist, slamming it into Snide's face and sending him flying back into the back of the cave.

"You think one more Ranger...?"

He didn't get to finish his thought as Matt pulled out his Dino Blaster and opened fire, hitting him with blast after blast, utilising the skills he had earned in a lifetime on the farm, shooting predators that threatened their produce and game for their meals. Kendall pulled out her blaster and joined him, chipping away at Sledge's armour as well. He let out a scream as his armour finally failed him and one of Kendall's blasts caught him straight in the abdomen through a gap their combined efforts had created, forcing him to his knees.

As Heckyl and the others started to regain their composure and stood before him, Snide realised his advantage had left him. If he was going to defeat them, he needed more power! He needed the Magna Beam, and even he knew that he couldn't call for that indoors!

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" He screamed, running from the base. The team started to relax, finally letting their facade of strength fade. They were all spent, having given Snide all they had left. As Allison, Alessandra, Margaret and Betty went to dig out Leanne, Matt went over to Kendall, pulling off his helmet and offering her a hand. She accepted it, allowing him to help her to her feet.

"That was...wow...I had no idea." Matt told her. "I used to think working on the farm was hard work, but this...I have no idea how you guys even get up every morning!"

"You...you..." Kendall started to stammer, gesturing to his suit, unable to form a coherent thought into an actual sentence. Matt just nodded.

"Somewhere in the battle, when we were all getting our asses handed to us...I saw the Silver Energem in the rubble. It just started glowing, like it was calling out for someone to take it." Matt told her. "When I saw Snide holding you, when he was threatening you...I came running...and the Energem just came to me."

Kendall threw herself into Matt's arms, pressing her lips to his as he held her tightly. Margaret smiled brightly.

"Well it's about damn time!" She commented.

"Nicely done Doodlebug." Betty said approvingly.

As they parted, Kendall could feel her heart racing. A smile crossed her face despite her injuries, despite the fact that they now knew that the base was no longer safe for them. All she could do was stare into his eyes and know that in his heart, she was the one thing that mattered more to him than anything else.

"Um…excuse me." Heckyl interrupted them, tapping Kendall and Matt on the shoulders to get their attention. "I don't mean to be 'That guy', but Snide IS getting away, and now that he's weakened, this could be the best chance we have of destroying him and the Dark Energem!"

"Wow, leave it to the rebound guy to spoil the moment." Margaret stated, earning herself a look from Heckyl. "No offence."

"None taken." He responded a little coldly. "So, what do you say?"

"He's right." Kendall conceded, looking to Matt. "This is the best chance we've got, now that he's on his own and he's on the run!"

"Right." Matt said, taking up his helmet and looking to her with a smile. "Riley always told me this Ranger stuff had no respect for personal lives."

"We...um...we will talk about this." Kendall said, as much as a question to him as a statement of reassurance. She felt completely vulnerable in this situation, having laid so much of her heart on the line. "Raincheck?"

"Raincheck." He replied. "Are you coming Heckyl?"

"I'm responsible for Snide being released into this universe." Heckyl answered. "It seems only right that I be one of the ones to take him out of it."

"Look after Keeper and Leanne!" Kendall called out as she snatched up her helmet and started to make her way to the door with Heckyl and Matt. "We'll be right back!"


	12. Downhill Snide

The Pteracharge Megazord and Plesiocharge Megazord came together part way to Amber Beach, carrying the other zords with them. Despite their tough battles, they were pushing the zords to the limit to get back to Amber Beach in time. The last thing any of them heard was Allison telling them that Snide was in the base.

Chase was working on the communicator, trying to get a signal. That it was his girlfriend that had told them that Snide was in the base before the signal went out was deeply troubling to him. They all had loved ones in the base, and they were all pulling out all the stops to get back, but inside, they were going out of their minds with worry imagining what might be happening in their absence.

"Allison, Allison are you there?" Chase barked at the monitor, slapping it with his hand hard. "Damn it all, Allison, ANYONE come in!"

"Chase, calm down." Tyler told him.

"That's easy for you to say, your girlfriend and your dad are right here." Chase snapped. He regretted it instantly, he knew it wasn't Tyler's fault that his loved ones were here, where he could see and know that they were alright. It wasn't his fault that they had been dragged to the furthest reaches of the globe moments before their base was attacked and they were now rushing back, not certain as to what they would find when they got there! Although Kendall was a capable Ranger, they were acutely aware of the fact she was the only Ranger there, and that Snide was one of their most powerful foes. The first time they had run into him, it was only Heckyl re-asserting control at an opportune moment that had caused him to flee, saving them from a spectacular beating. "I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Its fine Chase, we get it." Shelby responded sympathetically. It was a testament to how far they had come that her first thought wasn't to be offended by his remark. She understood that Chase had to be going out of his mind wondering what was happening, whether he would see Allison alive again. "Please, just try to stay positive. We don't know what's..."

"Rangers, Rangers, come in!" They heard a voice say over the communicator. They all stared at the communicator. It wasn't the base; it looked like the signal was coming from a Dino Comm, one that was on the move.

"We're here, who is this?" Tyler asked. Chase finally managed to get an image. It was a little blurry, and the image moved around as whoever was using the Dino Comm was running given the movement and his heavy breathing, but there was one thing that all of them noticed. It was the Silver Ranger!

"Wait...Silver Ranger?" Tyler asked.

"We've got Snide on the run. He has the Dark Energem with him!" The Silver Ranger responded. "This might be our best shot, how far out are you?"

"Um..." Tyler checked his equipment. "We should be there in a few minutes."

"Get us support down here now!" The Silver Ranger told him. "Snide's heading for his ship, if he gets on it, we might not get another chance like this!"

"We're within the city limits." Tyler told him. "I've got an idea, keep him busy!"

As Tyler cut off the communicator, he looked to Shelby and James.

"Dad, Shelby, you two bail out and use the Raptor Cycles." He told them. "Whatever happens, make sure Snide does NOT get on that ship! The rest of you are with me!"

"What's the play?" Chase asked him.

"There is no kill like overkill." Tyler told him as Shelby and James both leapt out of the Megazord over the city limits.

"So...are we going to talk about the fact there's a Silver Ranger?" Riley asked. Tyler just smiled.

"I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to ask about that." He answered. "Right after we take out the Dark Energem."

On the ground, Snide was running, having been firmly put on the back foot by the team's resistance. He never expected taking on a Ranger to be easy, but he had been dismissive of the others. He had underestimated the human survival instinct and willingness to fight tooth and nail to protect their lives. By the time the Silver Ranger showed up, he already needed to get some space to re-think his strategy.

Brute force alone wasn't cutting it, he had been blind-sided and distracted by the others in the base, and that had allowed the Silver and Purple Rangers to get the upper hand. He looked around desperately for his drop pod, thinking that perhaps if he went back to the ship, maybe if he broke off the battle and came back for another go, that he would be able to begin the battle again at a time and place of his choosing, that he would be able to regain the advantage.

He rounded a corner, taking a quick glance back to make sure he had a decent lead on them before looking back to the junk yard he had used to conceal his drop pod.

"Ha, yes, there's the pod!" He declared as he was getting close to making his escape. Heckyl, Matt and Kendall were hot on his heels, but not close enough to stop him before he got there.

"He's getting away!" Kendall declared as they fired off blasts wildly, trying to hit Snide to slow him down. There was a roar of engines and they all looked to see Shelby arriving on her Raptor Cycle.

"Don't think so!" Shelby called out as she opened fire. Snide was blasted backwards off his feet as the laser cannon on her bike blew his drop ship to smithereens. Snide got up, looking to the wreckage and realising his situation had now gotten more desperate. They had burned his ship, he now had no means of escape, that meant he had no choice but to fight for all he was worth.

As he saw James coming from another direction, he leapt into the air to cut him down, but James managed to get the bike between them, meaning Snide succeeded only in slicing the bike apart. James on the other hand managed to catch Snide right in the face with his Dino Sabre, causing him to hit the ground in a crumpled heap. James rolled back to his feet as the others joined him.

"Heckyl?" He asked.

"He's on our side!" The Silver Ranger answered. James just shook his head.

"OK, make sense of this later, fight now James." He said to himself as they rushed to attack. Snide was now like a cornered animal. He was already wounded, and he now had nowhere left to run to. He swung wildly as they all came at him, trying to take him out. He was still one of the most feared monsters in existence for a reason, and he intended to make sure they knew it!

"You think you can take on me AND Sledge?" Snide taunted them. "Think again!"

He caught Heckyl's hand as his former other half came at him with his hand charged up, ready to try and tear into his chest. He stared straight at the alien, who grappled with him, trying to get Snide to let go.

"It's over Snide!" Heckyl told him. "Your reign of terror is over!"

"You might have them fooled, but you forget we shared a body for a LONG time Heckyl!" Snide responded as he threw him away. "Don't forget, I know exactly what you are! I've seen everything you...AAAAGGHHHH!"

He let out a horrendous scream as Kendall rammed her Dino Sabre through the gap in his armour she and James had blasted, impaling him right through his wound. The sword came out the other side, but Snide just stared down at it as he grabbed her around the throat.

"You think you can destroy me just because you cause a little wound?" He called out. "You have no idea what you're dealing with!"

"Are you alright Kendall?" Matt asked as he got to her side, helping the Purple Ranger up. Phillipe and Ivan arrived shortly after, boosting the numbers on the Rangers' side.

"Don't worry, the reinforcements are here." Phillipe assured them. "Lucky we still have five Energems!"

"That's still not enough to destroy this!" Snide told them, holding up the Dark Energem. Just then, there was a crash and the ground shook, causing everyone to stumble and struggle to remain on their feet. Snide looked up in horror to see the Ultrazord had arrived.

"It's over Snide!" Tyler told him. "We're taking the Dark Energem! It's up to you if we take you out too!"

"You're in for a BIG surprise!" Snide cackled, raising his sword up high. "Magna Beam!"

The Rangers waited for him to grow, but the beam never came. He just thrust his sword skyward again.

"MAGNA BEAM!" He screamed, like his life depended on it. When it finally dawned on him that it would never come, he realised one flaw in his plan to preserve his life that he hadn't considered. He got the Dark Energem off the ship because Sledge didn't know he had taken it. If he still didn't know, then he would still see a potential opportunity to rid himself of a powerful rival without knowing he would be delivering the Dark Energem straight into the Rangers' hands. "CURSE YOU SLEDGE!"

Up on Sledge's ship, everyone was desperately searching for Poisandra's wedding ring. They didn't know yet that Snide had taken it, all they knew was that it was missing. Poisandra was frantic, being denied the symbol of her long-awaited union to her beloved Sledge.

"Where is it?" Sledge screamed, looking around. "Where IS it?"

"Master Sledge!" Fury called out as he noticed something on the floor. They came over and found the ring, but only the silver housing. The Dark Energem was gone. Poisandra saw this and started screaming.

"My...my...my beautiful ring! It's RUINED!" She screeched.

"Snide must have taken it!" Sledge called out. "Where is he?"

"He's in battle with the Rangers as we speak!" Fury said, pulling up an image on a monitor. They saw Phillipe, Matt, Kendall, James, Shelby and Heckyl all standing before him, while the Ultrazord loomed ominously in the background.

"He's got the Dark Energem!" Sledge screamed, realising the situation at hand. The Rangers were aiming literally everything they had at him, and he was holding their most powerful weapon. He had unwittingly delivered their most powerful weapon right into their hands! "To the drop ships, NOW!"

Down in the junk yard, the Rangers were preparing for their final attack. Snide stood defiantly before them.

"You...you think I'm going to cower and beg?" He asked them. "I still have THIS! Power of the Dark Energem, TRANSFORM ME!"

"He's made his choice." Kendall stated, putting a Dino Charger into her blaster. All the others did the same as Heckyl powered up his hand.

"It's because of me you're in this world Snide." Heckly stated. "I couldn't be happier to take you out of it!"

"Alright guys, give it everything." Tyler reminded them. "Keeper said the Dark Energem MUST be destroyed! TITANO CANNON!"

Everyone powered up their weapons as Snide started to channel the Dark Energem's power into himself. They opened fire, raining down unmatched power onto him. With one last scream, he exploded, heralding his end. They all stood down, relieved that his threat was finally over.

"So long Snide." Tyler announced. "Come on guys, we can't take any chances. We need to search everywhere. We need to be sure the Dark Energem's gone for good."

They bailed out, joining the others on the ground. They all came together to celebrate their victory, and there were still a few questions on everyone's mind.

"Um...what's he doing here?" Chase asked, looking to Heckyl. Kendall just smiled.

"Well, we have him to thank for getting out of the base." Kendall vouched for him. "If he hadn't turned up, I don't know what would have happened."

"He definitely helped." Matt said, crossing his arms defiantly. Kendall just chuckled and nudged him.

"Yeah, that's another thing. Who the hell are you?" Shelby asked. "When we left, we didn't have a Silver Ranger."

They all powered down, at which Matt stood before them smiling.

"MATT!" They all screamed, looking elated. Riley came up to his brother, hugging him tightly.

"Matt, you seriously...how did...what...?"

"I don't know. I guess the Silver Energem just saw something in me." Matt answered.

"But...what about not wanting to be a Ranger?" Tyler asked him.

"I guess people's perspective changes when the world is under threat." Matt stated, looking to Kendall. "And Snide threatened my world."

"I was the rebound for this guy?" Heckyl asked, looking him up and down and smiling. "Talk about a downgrade! If you'll excuse me, I think I know when I'm surplus to requirements."

Kendall just blushed as she heard him say this. Matt wasn't quite as sure how to take that compliment. Kendall just smiled and held him, starting to throw questions their way, but as they did, Shelby noticed something odd. Heckyl was rummaging around in the wreckage looking for something.

"Heckyl, what are you doing?" She asked him. Heckyl got down on his knees and started frantically sifting through the dirt.

"I...I need to know!" He stated.

"Heckyl..."

"That...that THING destroyed my whole planet!" Heckyl screamed. "I need to know it's gone for good! I need to see it for myself, to know that there's no way it can..."

"Heckyl." Kendall assured him, pulling out her scanner. She ran it over the area. Heckyl couldn't bring himself to believe her readings. "Heckyl...it's gone. It really is all over."

Heckyl took the device, cradling it in his hands, his fingers trembling as he inspected its reading. He had to check over and over again, the tightness in his chest not allowing him to believe what he was seeing.

"It...it's really gone?" He asked. "It's been in my nightmares for millions of years! It's been responsible for so much harm, both in Arcanon's hands and Snide...all the blood on his hands..."

"It's finally over." Chase assured him. "Dr Morgan's never wrong about stuff like this. If she says it's gone, it's gone."

Heckyl broke down in tears, hugging the device to him like a child. Kendall could only lay a hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Uh...guys...I don't think it's over just yet!" Chase warned them as they looked up, seeing three drop pods coming their way. "I'm giving you three guesses who they are and what they're looking for!"

"One of them is going another direction!" Shelby stated, before a look of horror crossed her face. "It's heading for the museum!"

They only just managed to avoid the drop pods as they slammed into the ground, throwing debris in all directions. The doors opened and the Rangers watched as Sledge and Poisandra stepped out.

"I'll give you one chance Rangers!" Sledge warned them. "Where is my Dark Energem?"

"It's gone, we destroyed it!" Chase told him wearily. "Any chance we could...you know...not do this? Since the Dark Energem is gone, there's really no point in..."

They all just narrowly dodged as Sledge opened fire. As Chase got back to his feet, Shelby was by his side.

"Really Chase?" She asked him.

"It was worth a shot." He said with a shrug. Another blast only narrowly missed them.

"No Chase, it really wasn't!" She answered. Heckyl patted her arm.

"I'll head back to the museum!" He told them. "If Sledge and Poisandra are here, then Fury must have gone to the museum."

"Heckyl, we can't ask you to do that!" Shelby stated.

"I want to!" Heckyl replied. "I can't do anything for Sentai 6, or the people I massacred under the Dark Energem's influence, but I can help your people!"

"Thanks Heckyl." Kendall answered as he ran off, heading back to the museum. They all directed their attention back to Sledge and Poisandra as Sledge opened fire again.

"I guess since the Dark Energem is gone all that's left is your Energems!" Sledge roared. "And we'll take them if we have to tear your whole stinking planet apart to get them!"

"Oh great, now he's pissed!" Chase grumbled. "Now he's not got any option left!"

"Then neither have we!" Matt stated. "I may be new to this Ranger business, but I say there are ten of us and two of them. If they want to do this one last time, let's give them what they want!"

"UNLEASH THE POWER!" They all screamed in unison as they broke cover, charging into battle, powering up for one last time!

 **A/N:** OK, so this is the first time this has happened, but going by the comments, even I can tell when a storyline is a dead end. It's symptomatic of my writing style. While many will write a few chapters ahead, I tend to write one chapter at a time and post as I'm writing. The reactionary approach is one that normally works for me, but in this case, it doesn't seem like it. I had a plan, but between the overall reaction to it and looking over my notes for where it was going, I figured it was best to nix the storyline and re-work it.

I had a few issues with the finale, that I'll be more than happy to go into at a later date. In the meantime, while the rest of this has stuck somewhat to the script, you can pretty much rely on the script to the finale being burned and completely re-written. Only this time, I've elected to streamline it a little and cut the stuff that wasn't working. I hope you enjoy the ride!


	13. Final Battle

**A/N:** Just so no one is confused, I did post the previous chapter, but due to a few issues and the general consensus on a storyline I had in mind, I decided to re-work it. I've eliminated the aspect that wasn't working and I've gone with a streamlined version of things. If you read the last chapter before 27/09/17, then you might want to go back and read the revised version just to ensure there isn't any confusion over events. Here's hoping you enjoy it.

The Ranger Base lay in ruins, and there was very little left. It looked like there was nothing of value to salvage from the rubble, perhaps a few of Kendall's devices, but nothing really of value. Keeper was just sitting up, with Betty tending to his head wound.

"Well, it looks nasty." Betty stated. "But I have a feeling a tough old goat like you has seen worse over the years."

"Indeed I have." Keeper answered gratefully. "Though I do appreciate the concern."

"How are you doing kid?" Betty asked, looking over to Leanne. Snide had managed to impale her with one of Koda's spears. Fortunately, he had missed her heart, but that didn't mean to say it wasn't a terrible injury. She snapped off as much of the spear as she dared to, but left it in the wound, knowing that pulling it out could lead to her bleeding out, equally dangerous for her kind.

"I'll be fine once I get to feed." She told them all honestly. "Um...don't worry though...I'll keep it in check."

Allison just came across and offered up her arm. Leanne just stared at her in surprise.

"But..."

"You need it more than I do right now." She answered. "Just...don't take too much alright?"

"Allison, I can't ask..."

"You aren't asking." Allison told her. "This place is compromised, it isn't safe here anymore. We're going to have to move, and I think that's going to be a little easier if you're at least on your feet."

Leanne took Allison's arm reluctantly, and looked to her one last time to make sure she hadn't changed her mind. While the gesture was appreciated, she knew it wasn't a small thing on Allison's part to offer. There was a little bit of a difference between agreeing to a blood transfusion and allowing a vampire an arm and saying 'here, take it'.

"It...it doesn't hurt much, I promise." Leanne told her, before getting another nod from Allison. She sank her teeth in, starting to feed. Sarah was starting to gather up the few working tools and devices she could find.

"Alright, my place isn't too far from here." Sarah told them. "My folks should be out at work, but if they're there...um...just let me do the talking."

"That...that should be enough." Leanne said as she released Allison. "I don't want to drain you too much. The puncture wounds seal up by themselves, it's how our meals don't...you know...die." Leanne told her. "By the way, you might want to consider some bananas in your diet; your potassium count is a little low."

"I'll...bear that in mind." She answered as she retrieved her arm. "By the way, it is still a little creepy when you say stuff like that."

"Sorry." Leanne replied. "Just trying to help."

Is everyone ready to go?" Margaret asked. "We should probably get moving before anyone else shows up. The last visitor was more than enough."

"Do you think you can walk Keeper?" Betty asked him. The ancient alien got shakily to his feet and pulled up his hood to cover his face as much as he could.

"I believe I will be fine." Keeper told them. "This place is no longer safe. We must go."

As they were about to leave, Fury came into the Ranger base. Allison just gulped.

"Um...too late." She commented, starting to back up. "Um...Fury right?"

"Where is the Dark Energem?" He asked them. Allison turned out her pockets, hoping this emphasis would help him believe them.

"It's not here." She told Fury. "The others chased Snide out of here. You want to find the Dark Energem...you want to find ANY Energems, you're not going to find them here."

"I may not find the Energems, but I have something just as good, don't I keeper!" He growled, rounding on the ancient alien. He drew his sword as he advanced on him. "I've been waiting a long time for this!"

"I'm out of bullets." Margaret reminded them, getting up. "I'll help where I can but..."

"We all will!" Sarah said, pulling a guard. Keeper just gestured them aside though.

"No, thank you." He answered, picking up his spear uneasily. "This is my fight. This is something I should have finished long ago!"

With that, Keeper and Fury fell upon each other in the final act of a grudge that had lasted 65 million years!

Back at the scrap yard, Poisandra unleashed a power wave with a hellish shriek that send scrap and Rangers flying in all directions. They were beginning to realise how fortunate they were that Poisandra had kept out of the battles most of the time. She was as powerful as she was insane, easily capable of laying the whole city to waste if they didn't take care of her.

"Is that a wedding dress she's wearing?" Shelby asked, trying to catch her breath as she took cover. "Did...did she and Sledge finally tie the knot?"

"I guess 65 million years is kind of a long engagement." Tyler conceded. "I'm kind of more concerned about the fact she's wearing it over all that other...stuff."

"I don't follow!" Shelby asked as he pulled out the T-Rex Supercharger, summoning Rexy.

"Well...if that's clothes, and she's wearing them...does that mean she's been walking around naked all this time?" He asked her.

"EW!" Shelby shrieked as she suddenly started thinking about that. "Thanks for the mental image Tyler! That's REAL helpful!"

"You did ask!" Tyler responded, powering up into T-Rex Supercharge mode. "Alright, who wants to cut our problems in half?" Tyler asked as he swung out of cover. The team broke off from what they were doing, and quickly assembled behind him. He levelled the blaster straight at Poisandra, figuring that she was the more dangerous of the two. Sledge appeared to have at least some restraint, but Poisandra seemed to be willing to destroy the whole planet not because of the loss of the Dark Energem, but because she lost her wedding ring and she was spending her honeymoon in battle with the Rangers.

"T-Rex Supercharge...Final STRIKE!" They called out, opening fire.

"POISIE NO!" Sledge called out, running and throwing himself in the way of the blast. He was engulfed completely in the blast, taking it full in the chest. The Rangers poured on all the power they could muster. By the time the blast had dissipated, Sledge was still standing, his armour smoking.

"My God...he took it!" Kendall gasped. "He took everything we..."

Sledge wordlessly staggered forward a couple of steps, his blaster falling from his grip. He reached out his hands like he was going to try and tear the Rangers apart in his own two hands.

"Guys, he's still coming!" Chase commented, but as he stumbled forward, he looked unsteady. He got to Tyler, placing his hands around his throat, but quickly sank down to his knees. Tyler powered up one more blast and placed the blaster directly against him, firing it off point blank.

As Sledge flew backwards, hitting the ground, Poisandra let out a scream that echoed through the whole area. Sledge twitched on the ground one last time before exploding.

"He's...he's gone!" Riley gasped. "He's finally..."

"My...my...my SLEDGEUMS!" Poisandra wailed, falling to her knees on the spot where he fell. The last time he had disappeared, it devastated her. Despite everything, Poisandra genuinely loved Sledge, and would have done anything for him. She had committed atrocities for him that eclipsed some of the worst acts of genocide the Earth had ever seen. This wasn't like the last time though, this time there would be no miraculous return. This time she had watched him being destroyed before her eyes. She looked up to the Rangers with tears running down her face, but her expression twisted into a horrendous, hateful mask.

"Oh shit!" Tyler gulped. "Now we've done it!"

Poisandra threw her head skyward and screamed in anguish, before getting to her feet.

"You took my Sledgeums; I'll take your WHOLE PLANET!" She shrieked, unleashing another attack.

In the Ranger Base, Keeper and Fury fought back and forward, forcing the others to take cover.

Keeper was already injured from Snide's previous attack. He was quickly finding himself in severe trouble. Fury knocked the spear clear, before kicking Keeper hard in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards over a work bench. Fury made his way over to him, raising his sword.

"I've waited a long time for this Keeper!" Fury told him. "You stranded me on this mud ball for 65 million years you bug-eyed freak!"

"That was not my intention." Keeper told him. "I was intending to destroy you!"

"Well not that it's going to matter much, but if you want to destroy someone, a bomb isn't the best way to do it." He told him. "After all, you can't make sure the job is done. To do that, you have to get up close and personal."

With that, he rammed his sword into Keeper's chest. Sarah ran at him, hitting him with a flying kick, staggering him. He looked to her with rage in his eyes.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved little girl!" He told her, rounding on her, lifting his blood-stained sword and coming towards her.

"I am involved whether I want to be or not!" She told him. "I kind of live on this planet! Whatever happens to this planet happens to me, it's everyone's duty to fight for it!"

"That sounds like a fitting epitaph!" Fury answered grabbing her by the scruff of the neck. Sarah struggled against his grip, but he was too strong for her. She kicked him a few times, but not hard enough to make him let go. "Then again, you are quite spirited. Perhaps I should absorb you instead. That way you'll get the pleasure of seeing what happens to the world once..."

"You know, for someone who's trying to kill people, you talk WAY too much!" Heckyl interrupted him as he grabbed Fury, pulling him away from Sarah, blasting him across the room.

"Heckyl! What are you doing here?" Fury yelled at him. "I'd have thought you'd find the fastest way off the planet knowing what's coming!"

"No one was there for my planet." Heckyl told him. "If good people do nothing, that's evil enough!"

Fury rushed towards Heckyl, who powered up as much as he could. He fired off his blast point-blank, burning straight through him. Fury staggered backwards, before falling to the floor and exploding. Heckyl looked around, rushing over to Keeper's side.

"Keeper, I'm sorry, I tried to get here sooner..."

"You have already done more than anyone did for your planet, and more than anyone could expect you to do for this planet." Keeper responded.

"This wound looks bad, I don't know if I can..."

"My wounds are mortal. I do not have much time left." Keeper told him. Heckyl and the others all looked horrified by what he had said. "Do not grieve. I have lived longer and seen more wonders in the universe than any creature has a right to. It is now time for me to join the rest of my kind."

"But...but the Energems..."

"The Energems will require a Keeper, one who will do everything that is necessary to protect them." Keeper told Heckyl. He placed a hand on Heckyl's chest, at which his clothing changed to robes like his own. Heckyl looked down in confusion. "I have bestowed upon you the powers of a Keeper. It is the final duty I must perform."

"But Keeper...you can't..."

"You have nothing to fear Allison." Keeper assured her, seeing her tears falling. "Seeing you all, and how much you fought for this world, I know that your world will always be safe."

With that, he started glowing, and in a flash of light, disappeared. Heckyl looked down to his hands as Sarah put a hand on his shoulder.

"Heckyl." She told him. "We...really need to go."

"Yes, of course." He answered, looking around. "Stick close to me. I'll protect you."

Back at the scrap yard, Poisandra was punting the Rangers around with abandon. Any doubts that she was more powerful than Sledge were quickly evaporating as they struggled with her.

"Man, I thought Sledge was bad!" Tyler commented. "If she keeps this up, I don't know if the planet's going to make it!"

"Maybe someone should tell her about Match dot com?" Chase suggested.

"Yeah, I think psychotic monsters are real popular!" Shelby reprimanded him, narrowly ducking one of Poisadra's attacks.

"You obviously haven't been on any dating sites lately." Chase answered.

"Wait, how would YOU know?" Riley asked.

"Um..."

"So that's Mr Smooth's secret?" Phillipe chuckled. "You used dating sites?"

"Well...um..."

"Oh, he totally did!" James said with a smirk.

"Guys, can we focus on the problem at hand please?" Tyler asked.

"THANK YOU!" Chase called out.

"Yeah, we can tease Chase about the dating sites later!" Tyler added. "OK, the Supercharge Blaster is charged again. This is our best shot, everyone ready?"

"You know it!" Shelby responded as they all prepared to move. Tyler swung out, powering up his blaster, with the team lining up behind him. Kendall looked around.

"Where's Matt?" She asked. "Where's Matt?"

"He's not here?" Riley asked.

"Guys, we can't worry about that now!" Tyler added.

"Victory Maximum, FINAL STRIKE!" They called out, firing off the blast. It hit Poisandra square on, but she held fast, her power flaring up in a protective shield.

"Shit, it's not working!" Tyler screamed. "We need to pour it on!"

The Rangers channelled every ounce of power they could into it, their suits beginning to vanish as their power routed into the attack. Poisandra's field started to fluctuate, but she was still holding strong.

"I can't believe this, she's...she's not going down!" Chase stated. "It's not enough!"

"Well maybe this will help!" They heard someone call out. They all looked to see the zords formed up, the Titano Cannon powering up.

"Matt?" Kendall asked.

"I guess I get to use one of these things once at least!" Matt said, pulling out the Dino Supercharge Sabre. "Titano Cannon, Final STRIKE!"

Poisandra re-doubled her efforts as she had to deal with the blasts from both sides, but before long it was evident even she didn't have the power to resist. She sank to her knees, still struggling to hold the attacks.

"I'm sorry I failed!" She stated. "I'm coming for you Sledgeums!"

With that, her power faltered and the blasts struck home. In a massive explosion, she disappeared, ending the threat to the Earth. The Rangers all fell to the ground, completely spend and exhausted. They were silent for a moment, before Tyler held up a hand.

"Monster..."

"Tyler, I swear, if you say it one more time, I swear to God..."

With that, they all started laughing out of exhaustion and relief. The battle was over, and finally the Earth was safe.


	14. Decisions Decisions

A couple of days later, the whole team gathered in the park. The re-build of the city was well underway, but this time with a renewed sense of hope. Before, when the people rebuilt the city following a monster attack, they did so knowing that the potential was there for another attack only a short time later. However, this time, even though there was a lot more harm caused, this time they knew that the monsters were gone for good. Sledge had been destroyed, and the nightmare was finally over for Amber Beach.

Anton had already sent a team, and a considerable sum of money to repair the damage to the museum and get it re-opened. Phillipe had used his own position act as a face to kick-start a number of fund-raisers and relief efforts to bring in all the help the city would need to get back on its feet. NASADA had tracked Sledge's ship, and noted that following his demise, the ship had turned and left their Solar System. They were still continually tracking the skies, looking for signs of their ship coming back, but with the destruction of their captors, without Sledge, Fury and Poisandra to keep them in line, they had simply decided that they had no desire to mess with the Rangers and moved on.

The team had assembled in the park after the gates were locked for one important piece of business. Heckyl had explained to them what happened at the base, he had told them of Keeper's sacrifice, and so that meant one of their most pressing matters of business was to pay their respects to Keeper. He had disappeared following his passing, meaning that there was nothing to bury. It didn't seem right not to leave something to mark his passing though, and so they had opted to plant a tree in his honour, so that they would always have somewhere to return whenever they felt they needed to honour him.

Margaret stood next to Phillipe, holding his hand, while Koda supported Alessandra who despite her knee, had chosen to stand to honour Keeper. Sarah was just finishing packing down soil around the roots of the apple tree they had chosen to mark his memorial.

"Keeper did a great many things in his efforts to save the galaxy." Heckyl began the eulogy. "And while I am sure that he would have been the first to admit that he didn't always do the right thing, and that some of his actions had dreadful consequences, he always did them in the hopes that he would find all of us, those who would help him end the threat that the Dark Energem posed for good."

He looked to the team assembled around him.

"Does anyone want to say anything?" He asked. None of them were very quick to speak. They didn't know what to say. For as long as they had been participating in his mission, helping his cause, he had often disappeared for long periods. It wasn't malicious, but none of them really knew much about Keeper from before he came to Earth. The most recent thing they had learned about him was that he was the one that caused the asteroid shower that had destroyed the dinosaurs in the first place. There was a lot they didn't know about him, but that didn't mean he hadn't been significant in their lives.

"Keeper, before I met you, all I ever wanted was to find my dad." Tyler began. "I wanted to know if he was alive, I wanted to know if he was still safe, and...I wanted to know if I could bring him back home. When you appeared to me and told me what was going on, I thought it was an amazing adventure. I never would have thought where it would lead."

He looked across to James and smiled.

"I found my dad." He said, before taking Shelby's hand warmly in his. "And I found the love of my life. The journey was pretty wild, but when the destination was so awesome, I guess...I guess you must have had some kind of plan all along."

"When I met you I thought I was the shit. I thought I was great because I was doing what I wanted, when I wanted with absolutely no thought for the future. I had no responsibilities, I had no direction and I never felt like I wanted any of that." Chase said, pulling in Allison closer. "You gave me adventure; you made me a superhero, something I thought would be just another cool thing to do. But you did so much more. You gave me a purpose. You opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn't free, I was a loser. I never would have thought that having ties, having commitments would be anything but a burden. Now, I couldn't imagine my life any other way."

"I was focused on my work." Kendall told him. "I was so driven, and constantly driven to prove myself and so, determined to show that I was the best in any given situation that I didn't think of anything else. I didn't realise that throughout most of that time, I was just hiding from myself. I let the things that happen to me close me to the fact that there are people in life worth relying on. If the one thing I take away from all this is that, all I can do is thank you."

"Now, I haven't been doing this long, but...I think I'm starting to get the hang of it." Heckyl said, placing his hand over the tree. It started to glow, at which the tree started to grow. Before long, it stood over thirty feet. He looked to the team. "Keeper entrusted me with these powers, and I intend to use them for exactly what he intended I do with them. Sledge's ship may be gone, but many of the inmates were not good people. I need to make sure that wherever they go, they don't cause any more harm."

"You're leaving?" Chase asked him. Heckyl just nodded in response.

"No one did anything for Sentai 6." He reminded them. "I can stop something like that happening again. But before I go, there's one last thing I need to do. I'm going to need all of your Energems."

One by one, the Rangers handed over their Energems, at which Heckyl passed them through the head of his staff.

"I've now unbounded you from your Energems." He told them. "You'll all age normally again. You've done the universe a great service by allowing yourselves to be bonded to the Energems, but now, the best I can do is thank you and allow you to return to your lives."

He handed them back their Energems, which puzzled them.

"Wait...you're letting us keep the Energems?" Shelby asked him.

"Keeper's job was to find people who would keep the energems safe." Heckyl told them. "My journey may be dangerous. I can think of no one else that would keep them safer than you. Besides, this planet seems to need heroes, now more than ever. I don't think disarming some of the best would be in this planet's best interests."

"So when are you leaving?" Chase asked him. Heckyl waved his hand, at which a ship appeared a little way off.

"Sledge's ship has already had a couple of day's head start. There's no telling what harm could have been done in that time." Heckyl announced. "I'm leaving the Earth in your hands. I know you'll do me, and my predecessor proud."

"Heckyl!" Shelby called out as he got to his ship. "Be safe OK?"

"Take care of each other, and this planet." He told them. "It's a bit of a primitive place but...I kind of like it here. Maybe our paths will cross again someday."

"We'd like that." Chase answered. "So long mate."

With that, Heckyl got into his ship and took off, leaving the Earth for the last time. The party left the park, leaving Keeper's memorial to stand hopefully for as long as he had.

The next day, things around the museum were incredibly busy. Kendall was directing the repairs and taking advantage of the time to expand the museum. She was on the phone to a contractor as she walked through the museum.

"Chase, the front's looking a little bare, why don't you move the stegosaurus over there." Kendall directed him. "Tyler, does that LOOK bronze age to you? No, take it to the iron age exhibit."

"This place is looking great Dr Morgan." Sarah complimented her as she approached, dressed in her street clothing. "You'd never know that a few days ago it had been levelled."

"Anton's check book does make things a lot easier." Kendall told her. "Trust me, if our employer was anyone else, they'd probably have written this place off months ago."

"Yeah...I'm really glad this place is still going to be here." Sarah told her. "Um...Dr Morgan...I have something to talk to you about..."

"Sure thing, you can talk to me about anything, you know that." Kendall told her. "Why...why aren't you in your uniform?"

"That's...what I wanted to talk to you about." Sarah answered, handing Kendall an envelope. "I'm really sorry about this; my dad just got offered a job in Summer Cove. I really wish I could give you more warning, but he really needs to head out there soon, and the position came with a full-ride scholarship in the local high-school which has a great reputation and..."

"Sarah, Sarah, it's alright. I completely understand." Kendall told her, taking the envelope. "It's family. I totally understand."

"I know it's really inconvenient, I would give you the four weeks, but...dad really needs to be out there by the weekend." Sarah told her. "If I could..."

"Its fine Sarah, I'm seriously fine!" Kendall told her. He pulled the young girl in for a hug, before releasing her. "I don't mind. Summer Cove is a great place; I've been there a few times. I'm sure you're going to love it there."

"I'm glad you're so cool with this." Sarah told her. "What happened here, everything about...you know...you don't need to worry, I'll never tell anyone."

"I know you won't." Kendall told her, hugging her again. "Have a great time. If there's anything you ever need, anything at all, you know you only need to call."

"Thanks Dr Morgan." Sarah answered. "I just want you to know, you're the coolest boss ever, even if the job kind of sucked."

"Thank you." Kendall replied. As Sarah left, Shelby came up next to her.

"So, her dad suddenly gets a kickass job in a nice town with a full-ride scholarship attached to it out of the blue?" Shelby asked her with a knowing look on her face. "That's a little...strange isn't it?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you mean." Kendall responded. Shelby just gave her a look that told her she wasn't buying it for a second. Kendall rolled her eyes. "Alright, I might have pulled a few strings back when she got hurt by Zack. You have to admit, she isn't exactly the type of girl that likes sitting on the sidelines."

"That's what the others said." Shelby stated. "I heard she gave Snide a facial."

"Well, I was getting a little concerned she wouldn't stick to the activities in the base so..."

"So you were trying to find a way to forcefully bench her?" Shelby asked.

"For her own good!" Kendall protested. "I can't help it if it took a few weeks to come through! Now the offer's been accepted it's not like I can rescind it."

"You did all that to protect her?" Shelby asked with a little smile.

"Believe me; I did a LOT of research. It wasn't easy!" Kendall told her. "The last reported homicide in Summer Cove was in 1978. The last violent crime was in 1993 and the most serious crime reported in the last five years was some grand theft auto. Believe me, even a girl with Sarah's talent of getting into trouble would find it hard to find any trouble there!"

"That's...that's really cool of you Dr Morgan." Shelby stated.

"You know, you're the second person that's said that to me today." Kendall responded. "So how much cooler would I be if I said it was alright to start calling me Kendall?"

"You...you're serious?" Shelby asked. "I've been your room mate for months and you don't even let me call you that at home."

"Well, maybe it's time I started." Kendall stated.

"OK...Kendall." Shelby said, before looking a little off. "That...that just sounds really weird to me. Maybe...maybe at the museum we should still call you Dr Morgan?"

"I think I could live with that." Kendall answered.

"Oh, I've got some news myself. I totally aced my coursework!" Shelby told her. "Well, I say aced, BLITZED would be more like it, my tutors absolutely LOVED what I've done! They're already..."

"...talking about skipping your second year." Kendall said with a smile. She looked to Shelby. "I AM your academic liaison remember."

"Wow, you really take a lot of the fun out of giving big news do you know that?" Shelby asked in response.

"I just like to keep a close eye on those that I invest in." Kendall answered. "I know I haven't always been the easiest person to get along with and I know I haven't always taken you seriously..."

"You don't need to explain." Shelby answered. "I know I didn't give you much reason to like me either."

Kendall pulled Shelby in, hugging her, which somewhat surprised the Pink Ranger, but she ended up returning the gesture. She released her, looking to her with a smile.

"I'm just going to be in my office." Kendall told her. "Keep an eye on things out here would you?"

"Sure thing Dr Morgan." Shelby answered as Kendall went back to her office. She put down her clipboard and sat at her desk, before picking up something else, something that she had received only the previous day.

She pulled out the contract, and looked to it, reading it. Anton had always promised her that he valued her as an asset. He had sent her on this assignment because he didn't trust himself to be around the temptation of the power the Energems had, and had chosen Kendall to go in his stead, believing of everyone he could have chosen that she was best qualified to act as his representative.

The thing about it though was that this was always only meant to be a temporary thing. Outside of her Ranger duties, the fact was that being the director of a museum was more or less a dead-end career wise. It was the kind of thing she had seen herself perhaps wanting to do as a kind of semi-retirement, once she was planning to wind down her career. She had seen it as the kind of thing that was the antithesis of the driven, ambitious person she had been. Anton had appreciated her putting her career on hold, and this was the pay-off.

The contract would put her in charge of her very own excavation. There would be no more taking orders from superiors. She would be back out there, doing what she had always loved, travelling the globe and making discoveries. It was what she had always wanted. Anton was giving her everything she had wanted on a plate.

She hadn't told the others yet, she had still to call Anton and confirm she was taking the position. She looked across to her PhD, sitting in the frame that Matt had made for her. It was something that played on her mind. She knew how Matt felt about her, and she knew that she loved him in return, but there was still the issue of a future, one she was still not sure she could offer him. She dialled the desk phone, putting it on speaker.

"Kendall, I was hoping to hear from you." Anton stated. "How are things at the museum?"

"I think you'll be pleased when it's ready." Kendall told him. "It should be ready within a few weeks; your guys are working pretty quickly..."

"They've been adequately compensated." Anton stated. "I take it by now you've received my offer."

"I have." Kendall told him. "I have to say, it's incredibly generous. It's..."

"It's everything you deserve and more." Anton told her. "I take it you're calling to..."

"I just have a few concerns." Kendall told him. "I really don't want to abandon the museum and leave it in the lurch."

"I understand completely. I know you always take pride in your work." Anton answered. "I've contacted Dr Runga. He's ready to take on the responsibilities when you leave."

"That's...that's good. He's a good candidate." Kendall told him. "What about my team?"

"They're the best money can buy." Anton assured her. "The latest equipment, the best researchers...you'll want for nothing! All you'll need to worry about is getting back where you belong, knee deep in soil digging."

"You know that line doesn't work on everyone right?" She asked, chuckling a little. "I've just got...um..."

"Kendall, is this a brush-off call?" He asked her. Just then, Kendall's cell phone started to ring. She sighed.

"Anton, could you hold on a second?" She asked him. She answered her cell phone. "Hello?"

"Kendall, it Koda!" The Blue Ranger rushed out. "Alessandra just rent new apartment!"

"Um...that's...great?" She said, looking a little confused.

"She ask me move in!" Koda told her.

"Koda, are you...are you sure about this?" She asked him. "Your home is the cave..."

"Cave was home, it good home, but place no make home." Koda told her. "Alessandra my heart, she my home."

"Koda, that's...that's wonderful." Kendall told him. "I couldn't be happier for you!"

"I need go pack!" Koda said excitedly. "Thank you for everything Kendall!"

Kendall hung up the phone and smiled. She couldn't believe how much Koda had grown. She worried about him, she would always worry about him and how he would make it in this time, but he knew he would always have friends around him, and she knew that Alessandra cared about him deeply.

"Are you still there?" Anton asked, reminding Kendall he was still on the line.

"Yes, it's just...It's just Koda." She told him. "He's moving in with Alessandra."

"It's always a big moment when they leave the nest." Anton chuckled. "I was in bits for days after Trent moved out."

As he said this, something finally hit Kendall, something she hadn't been able to see before now. Was...was Koda her kid? Had she somehow become his mom?

She had always said and had always thought about how much she hated the thought of having kids. She always focused on all the bad things, all the mess, all the drama, all the hassle. It was something she had always done...at least...it had been since her surgery.

17, that was how old she was when she was told the only way to save her life was a full hysterectomy. At 17, a time when having children, having a family was the furthest thing from her mind; she had been told that door would be closed to her forever. It was something she pushed from her mind as much as she could; it was just a fact of life. There was no arguing with it, there was no point screaming about how unfair it was, all she could do was get on with her life.

That was what she had done. She had buried herself in work, she had focused on her career, she had pushed everything else from her mind. She had more than enough to worry about from guys that didn't think she had any right to be in their field, who believed her achievements were more down to being held to lower standards than they were than her genuine ability. She had spend all her time fighting that battle, that battle for respect, taking on a monster, but was it possible...was it possible that she had just chosen a monster she could actually fight?

She cared for Koda; she had been given him as a responsibility, but...no, that was an assignment. It wasn't as though...

Her thoughts went to the others, and the relationships she had formed with them. Riley had gone back to the farm briefly to spend some time with his family before he went to college. He had been given early admittance to many schools and had elected to go to UCLA instead of doing a final year of high school education. She could think of the pride she held in Shelby and her accomplishments, the fact that she was now making a name of her own in the field that was still stacked against her. She had fought for her against many sceptical colleagues, and she loved being the one to prove them wrong.

She thought about Sarah, and the fact that although she loved having her around, although she saw another promising protégé, she had only thought about the danger she kept throwing herself into. She was terrified to think of anything happening to her, so terrified, she had tried to send her away rather than risk her putting herself in harm's way.

She could recall how she freaked out when she heard of Koda's decision to become a wrestler. Even knowing how happy it made him, she still got ill to her stomach any time she watched him in the ring, knowing the danger he put himself in.

"Good grief..." She muttered to herself.

"Kendall?" Anton asked. "Kendall, are you still there?"

She thought about the offer. She thought about the idea of getting back to travelling, and all she could think is how far she would be from those she cared about. She thought about being back on dig sites, and instead of the thrill of discovery, all she could think about was the mud and the weather and never waking up in the same place, of never settling in one home. She had to think that now...that sounded a lot less appealing than she had first believed. Looking to the PhD, which hung in a frame, she smiled.

"Anton?" She said. "I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to respectfully decline your offer."

"I'm...I'm sorry?" He asked. "Kendall, are you sure about this? This is a great opportunity..."

"I know and I appreciate it, but...I kind of like it here." She told him. Anton sighed.

"I wish I could say I wasn't disappointed." He answered. "But it looks like Koda isn't the only one leaving the nest. The job at the museum is yours for as long as you want it."

"Thanks Anton." She answered. "For everything I mean."

With that, she hung up the line, and grabbed her things, before heading out of the museum.


	15. A Home At Last

In Millport, Matt and Riley were busy milking the cows. It had been a long time since Riley had to even touch a cow, never mind milk one, but even now, even months afterwards, it was clear from his expression he was not entirely comfortable with what he was doing.

"Riley, I taught you to milk when you were eight." Matt chuckled, seeing the look of disgust on his brother's face. "You'd have thought you'd get over it at least a little in nine years."

"Matt, you do know they've invented machines that do this don't you?" Riley asked, shaking out his wrist as he took a brief rest from working the udders of the current cow. He slapped its side gently. "You're done Daenerys, OK; it's your turn Cersei."

"We REALLY shouldn't have let you name the cows." Matt laughed, before furrowing his brows. "Or read 'A Song of Fire And Ice' come to think of it. Mom freaked the hell out when she first saw 'Game of Thrones'. We've been letting you read that stuff since you were a kid!"

"Mom watches Game of Thrones?" Riley asked.

"You know Netflix is a thing, even out here." Matt informed him.

"So...you've figured out Netflix, but not automated milking machines?" Riley asked him. Matt just shrugged.

"How can we in good conscience advertise our butter or cheese as 'hand made' if we use machines?" Matt asked in response. Just then, there was a knock on the door. They both looked around to see Kendall standing in the doorway, looking a little out of breath, and slightly flushed. She was holding her side like she had a stitch.

"Dr. Morgan?" Riley asked.

"Riley, you don't work at the museum anymore. I think you can safely start calling me Kendall." Kendall told him. "Excuse me a moment. I just need to catch my breath. I've been running."

"Running? Where from?" Riley asked.

"The museum." She told them. They both looked to her in surprise. Millport wasn't FAR from Amber Beach, but it was still about an hour's drive! For her to run all the way from the museum, even with the Energem still able to help lend her stamina was a pretty strange thing to do. "Matt, can I...can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, um...Riley, go see if mom needs a hand collecting the eggs." Matt told him.

"You ran...all the way from Amber Beach...to here?" Riley stated. Matt just grabbed his brother and bundled him out the door of the barn, before closing it over for some privacy. He turned to look at Kendall.

"OK, so what is this about?" Matt asked her. Kendall took a few breaths to get her composure back, before preparing to begin.

"Matt, this morning Anton made me a job offer; he offered me my own excavation team." Kendall told him. "I'd have had my own researchers, archivists; workers...he pretty much offered me a blank check to do things my own way."

"I...I see." Matt said, looking dejected. He knew that was pretty much Kendall's dream. She had always told him that she wanted to advance her career, to be the lead on her own dig team, to be able to make discoveries, and even, if possible, to immortalise herself by discovering something that had never been seen before by being able to name something after herself. While he knew it was the kind of thing that would make her happy, the kind of thing that she would love to do, it also was one of the reasons they had split up in the first place. "Congratulations."

"Matt..."

"No, it's...its fine, I understand." Matt told her. "It kind of sucks, but all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. This sounds really amazing. You totally deserve it; Anton couldn't get anyone better..."

"Well, I agree with that, but hopefully he can find someone as good." Kendall answered. "I...I turned him down."

"You did what?" Matt asked her.

"He...he said something else while we were discussing the offer." Kendall began to explain. "Koda's moving out of the cave under the museum. He's moving in with Alessandra."

"That's a pretty big move for the big guy." Matt commented. "There was a time we couldn't even get him to go to the shops without someone else to do his shopping for him."

"I know, and believe me, I had the same worries, but I know Alessandra is great for him. I know how much he loves her, and I know...I know that he isn't helpless." Kendall commented. "But when I mentioned it to Anton, he said something. He told me that he was in bits when Trent left home."

"Um...OK?" Matt asked. "Quick question, who's Trent?"

"Trent was his adopted son." Kendall informed him. "He called it an empty nest."

"I'm still not following." Matt said, by now scratching his head and looking like Kendall was trying to explain the formula for the formation of a black hole.

"The thing is, it got me thinking...that's how I feel now." Kendall told him. "I have this twisting, gnawing thing in my gut now that he's moving out. I worry about how he'll cope without me, and if he'll be alright and..."

She looked to him as she tried to explain.

"I thought about all of the Rangers, and everything they've been through, and how amazing they all are." Kendall continued. "I was completely made up when I heard Shelby was doing so well in college, and when I heard about Riley's acceptance...and...then it hit me."

She looked to him, smiling.

"Matt...I told you how I felt about kids and everything, but...I think I might have been focusing on all the bad to try and convince myself because it was something I knew I wouldn't have." Kendall continued. "But it didn't occur to me that without even thinking about it, without realising what was happening...I'd fallen into that without even realising it!"

"Wait, are you saying...?"

"Matt, without even realising it, I've been a mom for the last two years!" Kendall told him. "And when I think about everything I've shared with all of them, and everything that I've seen them accomplish and how much I've seen them grow into the amazing people they are now, it's simply the greatest thing I've ever felt! There's nothing that's made me happier than I am when I realise what I've been a part of!"

"Kendall, are you really saying all this?" Matt asked her. She just nodded her head and looked to him, somewhat hopefully.

"Matt, at one time I thought settling down and staying in one place would be the worst thing I could think of." She stated. "But now, now that I've been here for two years, now that I know what it's like to have a home and a place of my own, to wake up in the same bed...hell, to wake up in an actual BED every day, to have a family and friends...all that other stuff, it just doesn't seem so appealing anymore. I guess what I'm saying is, I love what I've had for these two years, and...I guess I'm not done with it yet."

She looked to him hopefully.

"I know I come with a lot of baggage, but...I was hoping...if you'd still have me..."

Matt took his lasso from his belt and threw it over her, so it looped around her waist. He pulled it taut, pulling her towards himself. Once she was in his arms, he smiled.

"You know that this is what I want more than anything I've ever wanted." Matt told her. "Just like...I remember how much you enjoyed this."

Outside the barn, Riley just recoiled from the door and shook his head.

"OOOOOKAY! Time I wasn't here!" He commented, leaving the barn with a little shiver. "There are some things I don't think I am EVER meant to know about my brother."

Back at the museum, Shelby was overseeing things in Kendall's absence. As she passed by the gift shop, she paused as she saw James standing in there. She had to do a double-take as she noticed he was standing behind the register.

"Um...Dr Navarro, what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Well, with Sarah leaving, you need someone to run the gift shop." James answered. "I ran the campus shop when I was at Oxford, so I figured, what the hey? Some skills are never lost."

"But you are one of the world's most famous and accomplished palaeontologists." She commented. "You should at least be running a place like this. Don't you think this is a little come down?"

"Well, I am the guy you mentioned." James said with a shrug. "Of course I AM also the one who disappeared for ten years and most people think is either dead or insane. Getting back into the field is going to be kind of a little difficult after all that."

"But...your theories. You were right." Shelby stated. "Well, mostly. You were..."

"Shelby, being right really doesn't matter much to me anymore." James told her. "My obsession to be right cost me more than I'll ever be able to get back. It cost me my reputation, it cost me my marriage, and it cost me the privilege of seeing my son grow up. It's not too important to me to be right anymore."

"So you don't want to get back into the thick of it all?" Shelby asked him. "I'm sure Anton..."

"He did offer me that actually." James told her, looking over to where his son was helping set up an exhibit. "But I guess ten years on the road is long enough for me. I've missed enough time with my son. I guess some place I can get to stay in one place and get to know the fine young man he's become is a pretty good deal."

"But...you're working in a gift shop." Shelby reminded him. "That's...a bit of a come down."

"It depends how you look at it." James told her with a smile. "You and Kendall know my qualifications so I can certainly help in an advisory capacity here. It'd be a little difficult for me to be taken seriously in the field now. Besides, thanks to Anton, not only am I the world's most ridiculously over-qualified souvenir shop owner...I'm also the best paid!"

With a little wink, he went back to work. Shelby rolled her eyes and headed out to the museum floor, back to the job she loved.

Back on the farm, Kendall, still entwined in Matt's arms, and the lasso, looked to him with a contented smile on her face. Matt looked down on her, his expression one of pure joy. He brushed some errant hair from her face gently with his hand.

"So, I was just thinking. If I am staying, it might be time for me to consider somewhere a little more permanent." Kendall told him. "A home of my own. I've rented before, but if I am going to be sticking around, maybe it's time to consider becoming a home owner."

"A home owner?" Matt asked, looking a little surprised. "As happy as I am that you're staying, there's such a thing as moving a little TOO quickly."

"Matt, I'm not proposing moving in together or anything, but if I DO want to get on the property ladder, it might be worthwhile getting something before all the house prices start going up again." Kendall told him. "Without Sledge and his goons wrecking the place every other week, the property values are bound to start going up."

"You've already seen somewhere haven't you?" He asked her, pulling into her, holding her closely. She just smiled.

"Well, while I was running over here, I DID see a nice little farm that looks like it's been abandoned for a while now." She told him. "The for-sale sign has roots growing around it. It's a nice place, good size, about halfway between the museum and here..."

"Wait; is it out by the old waterwheel?" Matt asked her.

"You know it?" She asked him.

"Yeah, that's the old Romero place." Matt told her. "It's been abandoned for over a decade. The Romeros all went missing years ago. No one around here's bought it because there's...there's..."

You're kidding, are you telling me that people around here are superstitious enough to believe it's cursed or something?" Kendall asked with a little smile. "That is so...so...quaint it's adorable!"

"Hey, just last week you were fighting aliens for the fate of the world. My brother's girlfriend is a vampire and we both have a knight's and a cave-man's numbers on speed-dial." He told her. "Is the idea of a curse really that far beyond the realms of believability?"

"I guess not." Kendall told him, settling into his arms. "I guess...I guess I can look for somewhere in town."

"Well, wherever you do end up..."

"There's only one place I ever want to end up." Kendall answered, turning towards him, wrapping her arms around him. "And I'm there right now."

With that, she kissed him deeply. She didn't know what the future held, but she did know that now, more than ever, she was certain she was where she was meant to be. The war she had faced for the last two years had taken its toll and had its price, but it had also given her more than she could ever have hoped for.

It had given her a home.

FIN

 **A/N:** Well, there it is, the official end of my Dino Charge series...and JUST in the time frame I set myself at the beginning of the month!

I've loved this series and this team, and you can bet anything that this will NOT be the last you hear from them, but for now, time to wave a fond farewell to them. All good things come to an end...and other things have to begin.

You don't need to worry, my Ninja Steel series will be staring up very soon, and with it, a new stage in the legacy of the Power Rangers. Hope you all enjoyed the series, and I hope to see some of you for Ninja Steel!


End file.
